Brief description of Fehmarnbelt

Arctica
Sampling of Arctica Islandica - ocean quahog. © M. Gogina
The marine protected area (MPA) of Fehmarnbelt covers an area of approximatley 280 km² and includes the German EEZ north of Fehmarn togehter with the Fehmarnbelt Channel. The channel is a narrow channel up to 35 m deep through which water is exchanged between the North and Baltic Sea. The Fehmarbelt channel thus plays an important role in the distribution of species and in the exchange of oxygen with the North Sea.

The reefs in the protected area are home to some of the most species-rich communities of the Baltic Sea. The south of the Fehmarn Belt is characterized by sand ripples several meters high on the sea floor. These so-called megaripples represent a special form of the habitat type "sandbanks" and are very rare.Therefore they are of special geoscientific and eco-

logical value.



Example species that occur in the Fehmarbelt: Harbour porpoises, seals, ocean quahogs.


Protected goods: gravel, coarse sand and shilly grounds, sandbanks, reefs, harbour porpoises, seals.



Source: https://www.bfn.de/themen/meeresnaturschutz/nationale-meeresschutzgebiete/ostsee-awz/fehmarnbelt.html

(with video)