Kurš Bay ( lit. Kuršių marios ) is a lagoon of the Baltic Sea with an area of 1610 km² [1] . It is separated from the sea by the Curonian Spit . The strait connecting the bay and the sea is located near the Lithuanian city of Klaipeda . The water area of the gulf is divided between Lithuania and the Kaliningrad region of Russia , the border of the Kaliningrad region passes along the water area of the gulf. Most of the water area (1.2 thousand km² of 1.6 thousand km²) belongs to Russia, 415 km² of the northern part of the gulf belongs to Lithuania. The volume of the bay is 6.2 km³. The bay is very shallow - its average depth is 3.7 m. The narrowest and shallowest part of the bay is the northern one, where the depths do not exceed 2 m. To the south of the Neman- Nida estuary line there is a large part of the bay with a depth of more than 4 m. The deepest is site southeast of the village of Rybachy , where depths of 5.5-6.0 m are noted.
| Curonian lagoon | |
|---|---|
| lit. Kuršių marios | |
 Satellite image of the bay | |
| Specifications | |
| Bay Type | lagoon |
| Square | 1610 km² |
| Volume | 6,2 km³ |
| Deepest | 6 m |
| Average depth | 3,7 m |
| Flowing rivers | Neman , Deima |
| Location | |
| Upstream waters | Baltic Sea , Atlantic Ocean |
| Country |
|
| Regions | Kaliningrad Region , Klaipeda County |
Many rivers flow into the bay, the largest of them is the Neman . The total annual river flow into the bay is 25.1 km³, of which 21.0 km³ falls on the Neman. With precipitation, the gulf receives 1.0 km³ annually, with evaporation it loses 0.5 km³. Thus, the volume of water received by the bay annually exceeds its own volume four times, and the level of the bay exceeds the sea level by 12-15 cm. The difference in the volume of water through the strait flows into the sea. Therefore, the water in the bay is almost fresh (salinity does not exceed 8 ppm ).
The shores of the gulf (except for the Curonian Spit) are lowland, in the Slavsky district of the Kaliningrad region, the shores are located below the level of the gulf and are fenced off by dams , forming polders .
The bay is rich in fish. The ichthyofauna of the bay includes 53 species of fish from 18 families. Four ecological groups of commercial fish and fish species can be distinguished: migratory ( lamprey , lamprey, Baltic sturgeon , feint , salmon , brown trout , whitefish , smelt , fisherman , eel ), freshwater ( smelt , pike , bream , hooded , asp , goiter , crucian carp , crucian carp, golden carp , common carp , ide , roach , rudd , tench , catfish , burbot , ruff , perch , pike perch ), marine ( sprat , cod , flounder ), river ( chub , podust , barbel). [2] [3]
Many (140 thousand individuals) of waterfowl: various species of geese , ducks and coot , hunting for which is especially popular in the Kaliningrad region . Up to 40 thousand individuals are shot annually.
Content
See also
- Kurenas - a traditional boat of fishermen of the Curonian lagoon, used before the Second World War.
Notes
- ↑ Curonian lagoon - an article from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia .
- ↑ Osadchiy V.M. Fisheries regulation and the strategy of using fish resources in the Curonian lagoon: Abstract. diss. for the degree of Candidate of Biological Science. - Kaliningrad, 2000 .-- 24 p.
- ↑ Königsberg-Kaliningrad, 1255-2005: Illustrated Encyclopedic Reference / Ed. A. S. Przhezdomsky. - Kaliningrad: Amber Tale, 2006. - 800 p. - S. 74. - ISBN 5-7406-0840-5 (wrong)
Topographic maps
Literature
- G. Fedorov. At the map of the Kaliningrad region. Kaliningrad Book Publishing House, 1986.