10. When taking a walk along the beach in spring, keep your dog on its leash and photograph birds and animals from a sufficient distance

The baby seals hobbling around on the beach do not need any human help. Instead, notify a seal researcher, to whom this is important information in protecting the animals. Protect wildlife!

Located in the middle of the Baltic Sea is a large ‘dead zone’ or area with oxygen-deficient water in which almost no organisms can live. There are three reasons for the oxygen deficiency of the Baltic Sea. The most important is human activity, as a consequence of which fertiliser, waste and excessive nutrients enter the sea. The second reason is climate change, due to which the seas have become warmer and less salty. The third reason, and indeed the only one with no relation to human activity, is the slow water turnover between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea.

The expansion of dead zones means that there is less and less space for wildlife in the Baltic Sea. Along with the disappearance of oxygen, followed by aquatic biota, there are increasingly fewer habitats, which influences all of the animal life in the Baltic Sea via the food chain. Today, the dead zone of the Baltic Sea is the largest of its kind in the world. As such, coastal areas shoulder a great deal of responsibility in protecting the life of the Baltic Sea.

Find out how the marine environment is protected here >>>

And how it is restored here >>>

Grey seal (Halichoerus grypus). Photos: Lennart Lennak

Grey seal (Halichoerus grypus). Photo: Lennart Lennuk