Animals | Climate change threatens both the Saimaa and the Baltic sea minnows

Seals have increased significantly in Finland during the 21st century thanks to various long-term conservation measures. Even so, the Saimaa grouse in particular is still highly endangered, and the Baltic grouse is also classified as watchable – i.e. almost endangered.

At the moment, the greatest threat to norps is climate change, says a marine expert from the Finnish Nature Conservation Association Antti Halka.

Norpa cubs are born in February on the ice in a snow nest. At sea, a norpa’s nest is traditionally a cave formed by ice and snow, and in Saimaa, a nest is piled up on the shore ice. In warm winters, the waters don’t necessarily freeze and the snow is not deep enough.

Program Director of WWF Finland Petteri Tolvanen according to such winters, the mortality of foxes has been really high.

“Both Saimaa and Baltic grouse can be helped by the same means – primarily by curbing climate change and also by supporting the survival of the grouse with, for example, helpers and artificial nests,” describes Tolvanen.

in Finland In recent decades, a lot has been invested in the protection of the Saimaa norpa. In Tolvanen’s opinion, alongside the protection of Saimaa porpoises, there should also be a stronger focus on the protection of Baltic porpoises. Climate change especially threatens the southernmost populations living in the Archipelago Sea, the eastern Gulf of Finland and the Gulf of Riga in Estonia.

“If measures are not taken soon, the Baltic herring may gradually disappear from its more southern breeding areas,” notes Tolvanen.

Baltic Sea Norpan the population collapsed drastically in the 20th century – from as many as 200,000 individuals to around 5,000 individuals. The background was largely hunting and environmental toxins, which were gradually banned at the end of the 20th century, says Antti Halkka.

“Also the populations of the halli and Saimaan norpa decreased in the 20th century due to hunting.”

According to Tolvanen, the biggest threat to the Saimaa norpa has long been fishing nets, the use of which has been heavily restricted in the 21st century. Fishing nets, which are the most dangerous for the norpa, are completely prohibited, as well as such traps that the norpa can fit into.

“Certain types of nets are prohibited year-round, and in addition, from mid-April to the end of June, there is a more comprehensive net ban in Saimaa in the central breeding areas of the norpa.”

In Saimaa the auxiliary cinematography method developed by the University of Eastern Finland has been in large-scale use for almost ten years.

“The university found out whether snow cones like this, which have crashed into the nesting places preferred by human porcupines, could be helpful for porcupine nesting, and the cones have proven to be a really effective method,” Tolvanen is happy.

According to Tolvanen, artificial nests are also currently being developed in Finland, in which the polecat can nest in winters when there is no snow or ice. Artificial nests are only in the research phase, but promising results have already been obtained from them.

An important means of protecting the Saimaa norpa is also the regulation of the water level in Saimaa.

“The water level is regulated in Saimaa anyway, but the norpa is taken into account here so that during its breeding season the water level is not allowed to vary too much, so that the nest sites do not collapse and the chicks have to rely on the water,” says Tolvanen.

All Finland’s seals are gray seals and porpoises. Harbor seals are sometimes seen as very rare occasional guests in Tenojoki, says Antti Halkka.

Of the Finnish seals, the gray seal has become the most abundant, and there are currently around 18,000 individuals in Finland. The hall is classified as vital in Finland.

There are about 10,000 Baltic porpoises in Finland, and their population has grown only in the Pärämere.

“There are about 20,000 porpoises in the entire Baltic Sea region,” says Halkka.

There are only about 430–440 Saimaan grouse individuals. According to Halka, in the 2000s the population of Saimaa norpa has grown very slowly, with only 200 individuals. Currently, around 90 chicks are born each year.