Photo gallery - Species & Habitats

Baltic Sea bottom Sea bottom near Saaremaa, Estonia. ©Darius Daunys	Baltic Sea bottom Sea bottom near Saaremaa, Estonia. ©Darius Daunys	Eider Eider (adult male on the photo) was abundant nesting bird in West-Estonian small islands and islets during the last decades of the 20th century. In the last 5-6 years the abundance is showing clear decline. The reason for this decline is topic for the hot debate. So far many factors such as weak food base, environmental pollution, increased abundance of predators (sea eagle, big sea gulls) and deteriorating condition of wintering areas has been blamed. ©Markus Vetemaa
Steller’s Eider Steller’s Eider (Polysticta stelleri) ©Markus Vetemaa	Invasive species Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis) is a newcomer to the Baltic Sea ecosystem. Today this invasive species is the largest crustacean of the Baltic Sea. The introduction to the Baltic was primarily the result of the human activity - ballast water taken from other sea areas and released into Baltic. Chinese mitten crab is a catadromous species that spends most of its life in freshwaters and only migrates to the sea to reproduce. The first specimens in Europe were reported from German waters near Hamburg in 1912. In the early 1930s species was found in the inlet area to the Baltic Sea and ever since, large specimens have been reported from almost all parts of the Baltic. ©Markus Vetemaa	Eutrophication The concentration of toxins in the Baltic Sea is not any more increasing which has clearly been reflected for example in the increasing abundance of top predators like seals and eagles. The concentration of nutrients is, however, still too high. And not just in the estuaries, but everywhere in the Baltic. Flourishing green algae can be found even on the coastline of outermost Estonian islands (Vaika islet west from Saaremaa island, Estonia, on the photo). ©Markus Vetemaa
Grey seals Number of grey seals in the Baltic Sea has increased tenfold in last 30 years. ©Markus Vetemaa	By-catch grey seal Unfortunately, it means also more and more bycaught animals. This young male was got from the fyke net in West-Estonia. ©Markus Vetemaa	Oil on shore The amount of oil and oil products transported in the Baltic has doubled since 1997 and is expected to increase to up to 160 million tonnes per year. On average, the Baltic Sea has experienced one major ship accident per year since 1980 resulting in oil spills larger than 100 tonnes. Sadly, occasional small clumps can be found almost everywhere and every time. ©Markus Vetemaa
Oily duck The biggest tankers can contain more than three times as much oil as the amount that leaked out of the tanker Prestige off the Spanish coast in 2003, causing the death of over 300,000 birds. However, nobody knows from which leakage this long-tailed duck got oil on its plumage (photo made on Vesiloo island, west of Saaremaa in winter 2007). Even if still alive the bird now needs to spend long time on ground, because oily feathers do not provide necessary isolation in the icy water. This results in undernourishment and probably death. ©Markus Vetemaa	Birds by-catch By-catch of Steller's Eider in the fishing nets. ©Markus Vetemaa	Birds by-catch By-catch of Guillemot in a fishing gear. ©Markus Vetemaa
Longtailed duck By-catch of birds (adult male of long-tailed duck Clangula hyemalis on the photo) in the gill nets of commercial fishermen is concern not only to fishermen. However, last investigations made in the framework of the LIFE project “Marine Protected Areas in the Eastern Baltic Sea” have shown that the number of birds entangling in the gill nets is actually rather small. So, it is more ethical problem than real danger to the population. Furthermore, due to the decreasing profitability of the small-scale coastal fishery with passive gears, the total gill net effort of fishermen is declining year-by-year. ©Markus Vetemaa	Shorthorn sculpin Shorthorn sculpin is quite unusual fish species for the Baltic fishermen. Therefore it is not used for food. However it is very interesting fish, which mostly does not have natural enemies due to the spikes, which are covering its body. An interesting fact - then they are caught and taken out from the water, sculpins try to threaten the "enemy" fishermen and they do it by showing its spikes and also releasing a strange sound. This makes them being a "talking fish". ©Zymantas Morkvenas

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