Beach wrack as a resource in the South-Eastern Baltic

Abstract

Problem of Beach Wrack (BW) is present in the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia, South-Eastern
Baltic. From time to time, large amounts of BW appear in various places along its seashore.
At the same time the questions about conditions and sites of BW release as well as an
estimation of beach wrack quantity at the seashores of Kaliningrad Oblast are still open. A
survey of the Baltic Sea seashore within the Kaliningrad Oblast was conducted in March
2019-March 2020 with the aim of quantity and quality characteristic of BW emissions. The
BW emissions were recorded (measured, described and geo-referenced using GPS navigation)
and sampled on two model sites (managed and unmanaged) monthly and the alongshore
survey was carried out seasonally. It was found that the distribution of BW was characterized
by significant spatial and temporal variability. In general, large amounts of BW emissions
were observed on the northern coast of the Sambian Peninsula, in contrast to the western coast
and Curonian and Vistula spits. The largest accumulations of BW were local and mainly near
the coastline protrusions as capes (natural) and breakwaters, slipways, groins (man-made).
Seasonal dynamics of algae species in the composition of the BW was observed. BW mainly
contains Radophyta algae in the early spring and autumn-winter periods, in contrast to
summer, when there are also Chlorophyta and Phaeophyta. The preliminary estimations show
that the industrial use of BW is limited by the spatial and temporal irregularity of their
emissions in the Kaliningrad Oblast. However, the problem of BW collection and utilization
exists. A possible solution could be use of BW for coastal protection greenery as nutrients that
is similar to a natural process. In this way BW could be involved in soft engineering
techniques to manage the coastline.