Baltic Sea Gulf of Riga, and the Bay of Gdańsk. The Baltic Proper is bordered on its northern edge, at the latitude 60°N, by the Åland islands and the Gulf of Bothnia, on its northeastern edge by the Gulf of Finland, on its eastern edge by the Gulf of Riga, and in the west by the Swedish part of the southern Scandinavian Peninsula. The Baltic Sea is connected by artificial waterways to the White Sea via the White Sea Canal and to the German Bight of the North Sea via the Kiel Canal. Administration The Helsinki Convention on the Protection of the
Baltic Sea hypoxia can occur. the total area of bottom covered with hypoxic waters with oxygen concentrations less than 2 mg/l in the Baltic Sea has averaged 49,000 km over the last 40 years. In the Baltic Sea, the input of salt water from the North Sea through the Danish Straits is important in determining the area of hypoxia each year. Denser, saltier water comes into the Baltic Sea and flows along the bottom. Although large salt water inputs help to renew the bottom waters and increase oxygen concentrations, the new oxygen added with the salt water inflow is rapidly used to decompose