Abstract

Understanding the functioning of the Baltic Sea ecosystem has been one of the most important tasks of the Seili Research Station of the University of Turku, Finland. Understanding requires not only the study of the regulatory mechanisms of the Baltic Sea ecosystem, but also the study of the climatic conditions of the Atlantic, as the climatic conditions of the ocean ultimately determine how the Baltic Sea ecosystem develops [1]. The reason for this is that the origin of all water in the brackish water Baltic Sea, both saline and freshwater, is the Atlantic Ocean. Freshwater originates from evaporation in the Atlantic, which, driven by prevailing winds due to the Coriolis force, rains the catchment area of the Baltic Sea and ends up in the main basin of the sea along the rivers. Saline water enters through the Danish straits as a result of strong winter storms in the North Sea [2]. Thus, the brackish water is a combination of these two water sources.