The archives contain documents confirming that the first information about the Black Sea dates back to the 5th century. BC. It was according to him that the fearless Argonauts, led by Jason, went to Colchis in search of the golden fleece, overcoming numerous obstacles. As soon as it hasn't changed its name since then! According to this indicator, the Black Sea ranks first in the world. Since the first mentions in documents, the name has changed about 20 times.

Where does the modern name come from?

Various versions are known about its origin. The ancient Greeks named this sea - Pont Aksinsky, which means "Inhospitable". This name appeared due to problems with navigation among ancient navigators, despite the small, in comparison with others, the size of the Black Sea. As soon as the colonists mastered the coast, it changed to Pontus Euxine, which translates as "Hospitable". In the 10-16th centuries, the Russians called it "Russian Sea", or "Scythian". The current name of this reservoir is Black.

Where does this name come from? The first sources of this name date back to the 13th century, although it is possible that it appeared much earlier. One of the hypotheses suggests that the name arose due to the revolt of the indigenous peoples against their conquerors. "Kara Deniz" - "black, inhospitable". According to another version, this was the name given to it by migrants from southern countries, who observed during a storm a dark sky merged with sea water. The reservoir actually looks black in stormy weather.

Another theory of the modern name arose because of the specific property of the reservoir to "blacken" at the depth of the anchor and other objects. This is due to the influence of hydrogen sulfide. According to other theories, the sea acquired its name because of the black silt, which is periodically washed ashore during a storm.

width Length

Herodotus tried to calculate the size of Pontus, measuring it in stages, which were calculated by the orgies passed by the ship during the day (distance). Its length, according to Herodotus, was 11,100 stadia, and its width in the most spacious place was 3300 stadia. Modern scientists have the ability to calculate the dimensions of the Black Sea with an accuracy of a kilometer. Its greatest length from east to west - a distance of over 1150 km, from the coast of Bulgaria to the coast of Georgia.

From the Ukrainian village of Koblevo to the coast of Turkey, the Black Sea has dimensions (km) -616, from north to south. The smallest length is about 265 km. Scientists-geographers still cannot determine the area, despite the known size of the Black Sea. According to some calculations, it occupies 422,000 km², and according to others - 436,400 km². The total length of the coastal line is about 4100 km. The stored water volume is about 555,000 cubic kilometers.

Since the dimensions of the Black Sea (width, length, depth) are relatively small, slight ebbs and flows are formed in comparison with other open bodies of water. This is due to the low water exchange with the Atlantic Ocean. The sea occupies a huge tectonic pit, the maximum depth of which is about 2245 m. In the west and north-west there are low coasts, but there are also steep terrain. In Crimea - mostly low-lying, not counting the southern mountain coasts. From the east and south sides, the Caucasus and Pontic mountains are close to the sea.

At the confluence of the rivers, shallow bays are formed - estuaries: Dnestrovsky, Khadzhibey, Kuyalnitsky, Tiligulsky, and Dneprovsky. The largest peninsula of the Black Sea is the Crimean one, connected with the mainland thanks to the Perekop Isthmus. There are few islands in the Black Sea. The largest of them are Berezan and Zmeiny, each with an area of ​​less than 1 km². The Kerch Strait, from 4 to 18 meters deep, connects the Black Sea with the Azov Sea. The Bosphorus and the Dardanelles through the Sea of ​​Marmara and the Aegean connects it with the Mediterranean.

Scientists have repeatedly considered theories that the Black Sea arose about 6,000-8,000 years ago, when the level of the world's oceans rose due to the melting of glaciers. With an increase in the Mediterranean Sea, it overcame a natural dam, in the role of which was today's Bosphorus. After a breakthrough, a gigantic stream of water, equal to the power of 200 Niagara Falls, filled the current sea foundation. This natural element is similar to the common version of the Flood, which is depicted in the Old Testament. It is important that the time of this major natural disaster fully coincides with scientific and religious sources.

Today, an article about the main resort and economic value of not only the Krasnodar Territory, but also the whole of Russia wakes up. This is the main attraction of the warm Black Sea water. I have long wanted to write an article about our sea, collecting complete information. In this article, not everything that I wanted to write wakes up, I think it wakes up one more not many additions to this one.

General information about the Black Sea

Width - 1150 km; length - 580 km; Area - 422,000 km2; volume - 555,000 km3; coastline length - 3400 km; maximum depth - 2210m; average depth - 1240 m; catchment area - more than 2 million km2; flowing rivers - Danube, Dnieper, Dniester.

Black Sea looks like an infinity symbol. The outlines of the sea shores are clear. At a depth of more than 150 m, there are no living organisms, because the water is saturated with hydrogen sulfide.

The Black Sea is an inland sea, part of the Atlantic Ocean basin. Through the Bosphorus Strait (Turkey) it connects with the Sea of ​​Marmara, then through the Dardanelles Strait it connects with the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. Through the Kerch Strait, the Black Sea connects with the Sea of ​​Azov. In the north, the Crimean peninsula cuts deep into the Black Sea.

The border (water) between Asia Minor and Europe runs along the Black Sea. This is where the separation of these parts of the world takes place.

The coast that washes the sea is called "Black Sea region". The Black Sea washes the coast of the countries of Russia, Abkhazia, Georgia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine.

The Black Sea is a very valuable area for transportation. And of course this is one of the best and largest resorts.

There are also large military bases here. There are Russian military bases in Novorossiysk and Sevastopol. The military bases of Ukraine are located in Novoozernoye and Sevastopol. The Black Sea Fleet of Turkey is located in Samsun and Sinop. There are military bases in Bulgaria in Varna. In Batumi and Poti - the coast guard of Georgia. In Mangalia and Constanta are the military bases of Romania.

There are very few islands in the Black Sea. One of the largest islands is Dzharylgach, with an area of ​​62 km2. All other islands are smaller, large ones are Berezan and Zmeiny (with an area of ​​about less than 1 km?).

Not much from the history of the Black Sea

The ancient Greek name for the sea is Pont Aksinsky(Greek ?????? ??????, "Inhospitable sea"). Why the Black Sea received such a name, there are several versions. One is that there were difficulties in navigation. The second version is because of the unfriendly ancient tribes that lived on its shores. The third is that the ancient Greeks simply did not correctly interpret the ancient name of the sea, which was given by the Scythians - "dark blue", and they understood it as "inhospitable". And only later, when the sea and its shores were successfully explored, it was renamed - Pontus of Euxine (Greek ?????? ???????, "Hospitable Sea"). In the 6th century the name of the sea was already mentioned as "Russian Sea".

But the modern name has received for several series of reasons:

  • The Turks tried to conquer the coastal territories, but met with fierce resistance from the Abkhaz, Circassians, Circassians and other inhabiting tribes. The Turks called the waters Karadeniz - inhospitable or black;
  • Another version is when you lower metal objects, for example, an anchor deeper than 150m on a long sea, then the metal objects turn black due to the action of hydrogen sulfide;
  • The third version is that in Asian countries it is customary to divide parts of the world by color. And north is indicated in black. The Black Sea is the northern sea in relation to Asia. And the name accordingly came about this way.
  • There is also such a hypothesis associated with the memories of the breakthrough of the Bosphorus about 7000 years ago. Because of this, a huge land area was heated, which could not but affect the catastrophic situation at that time.

The Black Sea was formed on the site of the Tethys daytime ocean, about 1.5-2 million years ago. This happened at the moment when the Crimean and Caucasian mountains began to form. Initially, it was a reservoir with slightly salt water and closed.

About 6-8 thousand years ago, in the process of tectonic plate movement, the Bosphorus was formed. And then the salty waters of the Mediterranean Sea began to penetrate into the slightly salty Black Lake at that time. Due to this exchange of salt water, many inhabitants of the Black Lake could not adapt to the new conditions and died. The remains of the dead inhabitants sank to the bottom of the sea, the process of decomposition began, in the process, hydrogen sulfide began to form.

Only the upper layer of water of about 200 meters is suitable for life. Below this line are bacteria that produce hydrogen sulfide.

This is the warmest sea in Russia. The water temperature is up to +26 degrees in summer and + 6 in winter. This is the warmest corner of our country. Here is the Krasnodar Territory, which is famous for its hospitable sanatoriums and recreation centers. It is here on the Black Sea that people come to rest and cure their ailments. There are plantations of sugar grapes, which are then used to make delicious Russian wine. The length of the Russian coast is 457 km.

The inhabitants of the sea are about 2000 species of animals from the simplest to mammals. Three types of jellyfish live here, and there are more than 200 types of mollusks. The most popular are mussels and rapana. Shrimp crabs also live here. More than 180 species of fish: horse mackerel, sprat, mullet, sturgeon, katran shark, red mullet, flounder, sea fox, sea dragon and others. The main advantage is dolphins, here in the sea there are three species of 48 dolphins: bottlenose dolphin, white barrel and azovka.

The world of underwater plants has about 100 species. Some species are several meters long. There are also species that have the property of glowing in water.

Algae is one of the main values ​​of the Black Sea. Some of them are useful, others can be poisonous, there are also such as, for example, seaweed - edible. Red algae is a valuable product from which agar-agar is obtained, which is used in confectionery production.

Of course, everyone watched a landscape of multi-colored shells on the seashore, which both children and adults love to collect. The shell is a shellfish house. Scientifically speaking, this is the outer skeleton of a mollusk, like the shell of a crayfish or shrimp. Yearling rings are formed on the shell, thanks to which the age of the mollusk can be calculated. The most popular shells of rapan shells.

This is a predator that was brought to us from the Pacific Ocean at the end of the 40s of the 20th century. He got into the Black Sea by attaching himself to the day of the ship. Here he has no enemies (starfish), so he settled here firmly. He began to eat oysters and scallops (they are almost gone). Today he has mussels and cuttings for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Now they are on the verge of total annihilation. The Black Sea ego system is very vulnerable.

The bottom of the sea in the coastal area: pebbles, sand, gravel. Already moving away from the coast the bottom: silt and sand. In the northwestern part there is a shell bottom.

Minerals: sand, natural gas and oil.

Ecology

The Black Sea is the dirtiest in the world! The situation is getting worse every day. Dolphin deaths are reported in the news almost every year. They themselves swim to the shore and break on the shore. Dolphin is one of the oldest and wisest animals on the planet. If a dolphin dies, then a catastrophic period has come in the world. If a dolphin cannot live in such an environment, then a person, too, will not be able to cope with this disaster. I will write more about this in the next post. Subscribe not to miss the article.

A dead dolphin was found on the shores of the village of Sukko, 30 meters from the sea. Possible reasons: a strong storm threw him ashore. The dolphin is not big. This is very creepy to look at.

Here are some examples of sea pollution:

  1. The rivers that flow into the Black Sea are heavily polluted with human waste;
  2. Heavy pollution by oil and oil products. Oil spills deprive the inhabitants of the sea of ​​oxygen, which ruins them. Common types of sea sports (jet skis, motor boats) are all detrimental to the aquatic ecosystem. Oil tankers and other large ships pollute the waters with waste fuel;
  3. Discharge of untreated waste into water. The hotel and sanatorium industry is now well developed on the Black Sea coast. Many people save on this and do not make a sewage purification system, and just let everything down into the sea. I myself have personally seen such drainage systems. To the question: “why are you doing this?”, The directors answer: “this is not ours!”;
  4. Mass dumping of fish. Young dolphins are often caught in the net. They are dying in fishing nets!

Located in the interior of the continent, the Black Sea is the most isolated part of the World Ocean. In the south-west, it communicates with the Bosphorus Strait, the border between the seas runs along the line of Cape Rumeli - Cape Anadolu. The Kerch Strait connects the Black and.

The area of ​​the Black Sea is 422 thousand km2, the volume is 555 thousand km3, the average depth is 1315 m, the maximum depth is 2210 m.

The coastline, with the exception of the north and northwest, is poorly indented. The eastern and southern shores are steep and mountainous, the western and northwestern ones are low and flat, steep in places. The only large peninsula is the Crimean one.

The length of the Russian shores of the Black Sea (from the Kerch Strait to the mouth of the Psou River) is about 400 km. The entire region of the Black Sea coast of Russia can be divided into two large regions - Taman and West Caucasian.

In the northwestern part of the sea there are the largest bays - Karkinitsky, Kalamitsky. In addition to them, on the southern coast of the sea there are the Sinop Bay and the Samsun Bay, on the west - the Burgas Bay. Small Serpents and Berezan are located in the northwestern part of the sea, Kefken - to the east of the Bosphorus.

Dzhandzhugazova E.A.

The most interesting of all the seas washing our country, perhaps, is the Black Sea. It has been known to mankind since ancient times and has been sung by many writers and poets. Wonderful Black Sea landscapes, mild climate and huge emotional impact of the Black Sea will forever remain in the memory of everyone who has visited its coast.

A.S. Pushkin wrote about the Black Sea:

Goodbye sea! I will not forget

Of your solemn beauty

And for a long, long time I will hear

Your hum, in the evening hours.

The Black Sea is interesting from different points of view - aesthetic, economic, political and many others, but, perhaps, the ancient Greeks were the first to mention the Black Sea. For the beauty of seascapes, lush coastal vegetation and the air filled with the breath of the sea and the scent of flowers, they called him Pontus Euxine, that is, the hospitable sea.

However, the ancient Greeks gave this name only after they got to know him well. And before that, they called it Pont Aksinsky - an inhospitable sea. Among the Greeks, there were legends that the masters of the Black Sea shores (Taurida), the fierce Taurus, kill all the newcomers, sacrificing them to their gods, and make cups for wine from the skulls. At one time, the Black Sea was called Surozh, after the city of Sugdei, the modern name of this city is Sudak.

There is also such a name for the sea - Khazar - after the name of the people who lived in these places. The campaigns of the Kiev princes to Constantinople (Constantinople) gave the chroniclers the soil from the 10th century to call the Black Sea - the Russian Sea. In 907, Prince Oleg led his squad across the Black Sea. “Your shield is at the gates of Constantinople,” wrote A.S. Pushkin. But the chronicle of Russia is connected not only with military campaigns with the Black Sea, it is rightly called “the cradle of Russian Orthodoxy”. In 957, Princess Olga converted to Orthodoxy in Constantinople, and in 988, Prince Vladimir was baptized in Kherson.

Why was the sea called Black?

Over the course of its centuries-old history, the sea has changed about 20 names, among which are known Cimmerian, Scythian, Sarmatian, Korsun, Karfinskoe. In ancient times it was often called Pontus and Scythian. Famous travelers also paid attention to the Black Sea. Marco Polo wrote about him as "Great", and Afanasy Nikitin as "Istanbul".

The Scythians called the Black Sea - Tana, which means the dark sea, and in general there are many legends about why the warm southern sea was called the Black Sea.

According to one of the picturesque Turkish legends, a heroic sword, thrown there at the request of the dying wizard Ali, rests in the sea. The sea is agitated, trying to throw out deadly weapons from its bowels, becomes violent and turns black. Of course, the researchers have several hypotheses about the name, one of them explains the origin of the name "Black Sea" by the fact that the Turks and other conquerors met serious resistance from the Black Sea peoples on their way - Ubykhs, Circassians, Circassians, etc. For this they called them the Karaden-giz sea or in translation Black, inhospitable.

The second hypothesis relates the origin of the name of the sea to strong storms, during which the sea turns black and even takes on a lead hue. But in fairness, it should be noted that storms are not a characteristic feature of the Black Sea, and strong waves (more than 6 points) occur no more than 17 days a year, as for darkening during a storm, this is a characteristic feature of almost all seas.

In general, the visual perception of the sea or ocean largely depends on the time of year. So, for example, Magellan called the Pacific, the most turbulent ocean on Earth, only because his journey fell on the most calm period, almost without storms. Most likely, a similar mistake occurred in relation to the Black Sea.

The third hypothesis of the origin of the name "Black Sea" was put forward by hydrologists and is based on the special property of the Black Sea water, which contributes to the blackening of metal objects raised from the depths of the sea - anchors, ship debris, etc. Metal objects turned black under the influence of hydrogen sulfide located in the depths of the Black Sea and, perhaps , this hypothesis is the most probable.

What is the Black Sea like?

In shape, the Black Sea resembles an oval with a longest axis of 1150 km. This distance is twice as long as the distance from Moscow to St. Petersburg. The greatest length of the Black Sea from north to south is 580 km, the smallest is 265 km. The area of ​​the Black Sea is 413 thousand square meters. km. The borders of the Black Sea are the coast of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains and the Pontine Mountains. The Bosphorus Strait connects the Black Sea with the Marmara Sea, and the Kerch Strait with the Azov Sea. The Black Sea is a deep-water basin with relatively circular slopes. Its greatest depth is 2211 meters, the area of ​​maximum depths is located in the central part of the sea closer to the Turkish coast.

The high water temperature in summer and the absence of ice on the surface of the Black Sea in winter are determined by the climate of the Black Sea region. The Black Sea is located in mid-latitudes (41-46 degrees north latitude). Due to the spherical shape of the Earth, the amount of heat received by its surface in these latitudes is much greater than in more northern ones. If we characterize the climate of certain regions of the Black Sea, it can be noted that its main part is characterized by warm and humid winters and hot dry summers. On the north-western and western shores there is a steppe climate (cold winters and hot summers). On the east coast, south of Tuapse, there is a climate of humid subtropics (hot summers and warm, humid winters). The south coast has relatively cold winters and hot summers.

The Black Sea is the warmest sea in Russia. The water temperature on the surface for six months is higher than 16 degrees Celsius, and in summer more than 25 degrees. The salinity of the Black Sea water is 2 times higher than the salinity of the Azov and 1.5 times of the Caspian.

When talking about the color of the seas, blue is usually mentioned, although not every sea is blue. By the way, the Black Sea is not “the bluest in the world”. The color of the water in the Red Sea is bluer than in the Black Sea, and the Sargasso Sea is considered the bluest, although the Black Sea also has a beautiful blue-green color.

The color of sea water depends on the scattering of the rays of the solar spectrum by water particles and impurities. Beams of different colors have different wavelengths. Red rays - long wave, blue - short wave. Shortwave blue rays are reflected many times in the surface layer and enter the human eye. Near the coast, where there are many impurities larger than water molecules, not only blue, but also green rays are reflected. Therefore, sea water easily changes color.

Of course, the human eye is happy to stop at the endless bright blue sea surface, but from the point of view of fishing, the best are by no means blue waters. Fishermen know that blue is the color of the watery desert.

Long-term observations of scientists have shown that the Black Sea is not the most stormy of the seas and the frequency of strong waves is low. During the stormy year itself, waves of 6-9 points are not observed for more than 17 days. One more feature of the Black Sea waves can be noted - their "stability". This is the so-called swell, which has a longer period of oscillation than a wind wave. The existence of the swell has long been associated with the concept of the "ninth shaft", which has been used by sailors for a long time, which is known to many from the painting by the marine painter Aivazovsky. It cannot be said that the idea of ​​the ninth shaft was completely devoid of foundation. However, the fact is that swell waves, as a rule, go in groups, with the largest waves in the center of the group, and smaller ones at the edges. Some wave in the group may be larger than the others, but what it will be in the order - the third, fifth, sixth, and from which to start the countdown - is unknown. Among the ancient Greeks, every third wave was considered the most dangerous, and among the Romans - the tenth.

If we evaluate the influence of sea waves on the human body, then the Black Sea swell is better tolerated than the Azov or Caspian wind wave, called by the sailors "bumpiness".

There are very few islands in the Black Sea, two of them are in Turkey. This is the island of Kefken (in antiquity Apolonius), located 5 miles at the entrance to the Bosphorus and the island of Giresun in the southern part of the Black Sea.

On the territory of the former USSR, there are the Dolgiy Islands in the Egorlyk Bay and the Serpentine, or Fidonisi, 37 kilometers east of the Danube River delta. Although the area of ​​the Snake Island is only 1.5 square kilometers, its steep banks are clearly visible from afar. The island was known to the Greeks as early as the 7th century BC. They called him Levka (White). Even smaller is the Berezan island located at the entrance to the Dnieper estuary, or the island of Lieutenant Schmidt, named after the leader of the Black Sea sailors uprising who was executed here.

The Black Sea connects Russia with many countries: Turkey, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Romania, etc.

The history of the development of the Black Sea

The history of the development of the Black Sea region began in the period of early Greek settlements, many myths and poetic legends are associated with them. The Argonauts approached the shores of the Black Sea - ancient Colchis, looking for the Golden Fleece. The proud Prometheus was chained to the Coastal rocks, disobeying the gods and giving the sacred fire to people. Already in the IV century BC, periplas were drawn up - the ancient sailing directions of the Black Sea. Information about the voyages of Russian merchants from Novgorod and Kiev has been preserved, but the real development of the Black Sea region dates back to Peter I, who gave instructions to carry out filming work on the route from Azov to the ship "Fortress", as a result of which "a direct drawing from Kerch to Constantinople" ...

In the 18th and 19th centuries, the study of the Black Sea was carried out by Russian scientists Pallas, Middendorf, Bellinghausen and many others. In 1817, the first map of the Black Sea was published, in 1842 the first atlas, and in 1851 - the direction of the sea. A great contribution to the study of the Black Sea was made by the works of Admiral S.O. Makarov on the currents in the Black Sea. At the end of the 19th century, an expedition on the gunboats Donets and Zaporozhets led by I. Shpindler, studying the change in the properties of sea water, discovered the saturation of deep sea waters with hydrogen sulfide, which undoubtedly emphasizes the unique feature of the Black Sea.

The first of the peoples inhabiting the Black Sea region, about which information has come down to our times, were the Cimmerians, who were then ousted by the Scythians. The time of Scythian domination on the shores of the Black Sea lasted until the 3rd century AD. The Scythians practically did not engage in farming and did not build cities, they seized and plundered foreign lands. Making long trips to Asia Minor, the Scythians studied the Caucasus well, and perhaps the very name "Caucasus" was given by the Scythians and means snow-white. The Black Sea region was also actively mastered by the Greeks, as evidenced by the Greek names of the years. For example, the word "Yalta" comes from the Greek "yalos" - shore. The name of the city Alupka comes from "alopex", which is translated from Greek as a fox. The city of Evpatoria was named by the Greeks in honor of the king Mithridates Eupator (Eupator means - noble). The Greeks also actively settled in the Caucasus. So, for example, modern Batumi stands on the site of the ancient Greek city, in which the Greek scientist Strabo was born. For a long time, the Tatars ruled in the Black Sea region, who were then replaced by the Genoese, who bought from the khans of the Golden Horde the right to colonize certain regions of the Black Sea region. The Black Sea coast of the Caucasus also attracted the Turks, who tried to extend their rule to the western shores of the Black Sea.

Russia long and stubbornly fought for the right to enter the Black Sea, but it was only in 1774 that the Kuchuk-Kainardzhiyskiy peace turned Russia into a Black Sea power. Russians bring their names to the coasts: Novorossiysk, Kerch, Lazarevskoe, Odessa, Sevastopol. Only the names of such large Black Sea cities as Sochi1 and Tuapse2 have local Adyghe roots.

The healing power of the Black Sea

Everyone knows the wonderful healing properties of the sea, it has a beneficial effect on the human body. The measured splash of waves and the rustle of sea pebbles, the coolness of the water when swimming, the smell, and the color of the sea have a very strong emotional effect. The sea is truly healing, both physically and emotionally.

Sea water, as a complex chemical compound, has many beneficial properties. Water reduces a person's weight, makes breathing easier, accelerates metabolic processes, saturates the body with oxygen, since the sea is the most effective natural hydroaeronizer.

Climatic therapy in the largest Black Sea resort of Sochi has always been used, but it received exceptional development during the Great Patriotic War. According to the results of numerous studies, Sochi doctors have concluded that sunbathing and sea bathing, used in the second phase of wound healing, have a strong accelerating effect on regeneration processes, cleanse wounds and strengthen the body. In turn, seawater was also widely used to treat wounded soldiers; blood replacement fluid was made from it. Currently, seawater is used in the manufacture of a number of medicines, for example, for the treatment of eye diseases, diseases of the nose and throat. Even sea waves have healing power, doctors note that sea waves of 1-2 points act on the human body as a good massage, which promotes the penetration of salts and useful microelements into the body.

Life at sea

The diversity of flora and fauna in the Black Sea is amazing. It contains over 250 types of algae. On the surf line, you can find pink algae - coralline, and at a depth of 20-30 meters, the brown algae Cystoseira lives on rocky soils.

Sea bathers see brown algae as a “fairy beard”, in the thickets of which mussels and other small inhabitants of the Black Sea hide. Somewhat deeper live ulva (sea salad) - very beautiful bright green sea grass and commercial alga phyllophora (sea grapes) 3. Almost all Black Sea algae are widely used, they are used for making medicines, used for the production of food products, cosmetics, heat-insulating materials, etc. In addition, algae are very effective in dampening waves.

The Black Sea is also the habitat of numerous animal organisms, almost all of them breathe oxygen dissolved in water, many of them do not have a skeleton, and their color, as a rule, corresponds to the color of sea water. An interesting fact is that the depths of the Black Sea are lifeless, only bacteria live there, and only a small surface layer is inhabited, making up no more than 12-13% of the total volume of the sea. However, life in this layer is surprisingly diverse.

If we begin to characterize the inhabitants of the Black Sea from the smallest representatives of the fauna, then the composition of the plankton includes very small (2mm) fish - noctiluks. The accumulation of Noctulok creates a wonderful and unforgettable sight during the warm autumn - the glow of the sea. Glow occurs when a chemical, luciferin, combines with oxygen. Some bacteria, molluscs, jellyfish can glow.

Different types of molluscs live in the Black Sea: oysters, mussels, pectene, littorina, tapes, modiolaria. Especially many mollusks live in the Kerch Strait and on the Caucasian coast. Gourmets are well known for the Black Sea mussel. Mussel is a very interesting marine organism with valuable nutritional properties. Mussels live 7-10 years and sometimes reach impressive sizes (up to 10 cm). In the Black Sea, the Rapana mollusk is found, which outwardly resembles a large snail.

Rapana, like mussel, is edible, but more popular as a material for making souvenirs and jewelry. Strange as it may seem, Rapana is not a "native" inhabitant of the Black Sea waters, it was brought on the bottoms of ships from the Far East, but it perfectly took root in the warm waters of the Black Sea and even crowds out the original inhabitants - oysters and mussels.

However, despite the predatory nature of the rapan, they love it very much, it has become a kind of symbol of the Black Sea, and if you put its shell to your ear, then even in a snowy winter, many hundreds and thousands of kilometers from the sea, you can hear its magic voice - the sound of the surf.

The famous Black Sea inhabitants - jellyfish and anemones - cannot be ignored. They are referred to as coelenterates due to their structural features. These creatures have only one hole, which serves to absorb food and remove food debris. Jellyfish are common in all seas of the world, they can be found both near the equator and in the Arctic. In the Black Sea, the most common jellyfish with the sonorous name "Aurelia", resembling a saucer in shape. Sea anemones, bright as flowers, live at the bottom of the sea and, like the predatory jellyfish, they catch small fish swimming by.

Jellyfish, like all sea inhabitants, are acutely aware of the approach of bad weather, and if a storm approaches, then all sea inhabitants hide in the depths of the sea. It should be noted that one of the most popular inhabitants of the Black Sea is the crab. Crabs are: marble, stone and herbal. All of them do not reach large sizes (usually up to 20 cm), however, the life of these sea animals is very interesting to observe. Since they live in plain sight, most often in cracks and crevices of breakwater buns and coastal fortifications.

The Black Sea is not the richest in fish, but, nevertheless, 180 species of various fish live in it.

Beluga, sturgeon, stellate sturgeon, herring, anchovy, sprat, tulka, mullet, red mullet, horse mackerel, mackerel, flounder, tuna are of commercial importance. In the Black Sea, fish live - the original inhabitants, as well as representatives of the ichthyofauna resettled from other seas. For example, steelhead salmon and striped bass were brought from the Pacific coast of the United States.

The largest of the Black Sea fish is considered to be tuna - one of the fastest marine inhabitants. The swordfish is also found in the Black Sea, its length can reach up to 5 meters, and its weight is up to 350 kg. With her double-edged sword, she can pierce the wooden side of a medium-sized ship. Many of the Black Sea fishes have been given interesting names for land animals: there is also a cat and a mouse, a horse, a dog, a fox, and a rooster.

All marine life is extremely distinctive, and it is interesting to watch them.

So scientists, studying the facts of the behavior of fish, came to interesting conclusions. For example, it has been established that fish during a storm can be "rocked", and if they do not go to the depth, they can "get seasick" and even die.

It turns out that fish, like all living things, drink water, but sea fish desalinate it, and excrete excess salts with the help of gills.

Who would have thought that fish and other marine animals can hear perfectly, but rather feel. In addition, the expression: "He is like a fish" is nothing more than a speech stamp. It has been proven that fish not only hear sounds, but some of them can make them. For example, scienes, dark slaves, sea cocks and other fish found in the Black Sea "talk" to each other, squeezing sounds from their swim bladder, which is very similar to drumming. The sounds made by fish are varied. The sea rooster, as it were, “grinds its teeth,” if it is not satisfied, and if, on the contrary, is satisfied, it emits subtle melodic sounds. Crooks "croak", herring "whisper", horse mackerel "bass loudly". The dolphins pulled out on the deck are frighteningly "grunt" or loudly "meow". Some fish, such as the dark croaker, make sounds so loud that they can be heard at a distance of 40 meters.

Sailors who fought in the Black Sea recalled that some acoustic mines exploded not from the noise of the ship's propellers, but from the cries of the noisiest fish.

Of course, the most famous inhabitants of the Black Sea are dolphins and seagulls. There are three species of dolphins in the Black Sea. The most common species are the common dolphin and the bottlenose dolphin (up to 4 m in length). Dolphins are mammals and viviparous animals, they have warm blood and are extremely quick-witted and sociable. Very trainable. Interesting cases can be observed near resort towns: dolphins follow pleasure boats for a long time, listen to music with pleasure, frolic and jump to the beat of the melody. Dolphins, of course, are real friends of man, even the word "dolphin" itself comes from the Greek "delphos", which means "brother".

If we talk about birds, then gulls should be especially mentioned. Several species of gulls and terns can be found in the Black Sea: gull, sea dove, gull-billed tern, Mediterranean gull, etc. The habits of gulls have become the reason for numerous sayings: “If a gull has sat on the water, wait for good weather”; "A seagull walks on the sand, promises a longing for the sailor"; "The seagull groans before the storm" and so on. Quite recently, a relic seagull was discovered on the Black Sea shores. This rare bird lived on the ancient shores of the Tetis Sea, which more than a hundred million years ago on the site of the modern Mediterranean, Black, Caspian and Azov Seas.

Black Sea in creativity

The Black Sea is amazingly beautiful, it inspires creativity, Pushkin, Paustovsky, Bulgakov, Katai and many others wrote about it. Konstantin Paustovsky in his famous essays wrote about the Black Sea sun.

"When in our Central Russia autumn heavy rains begin to pour and forests and leaden river expanses are drowning in the smoke of these rains, then a person comes to longing for the distant Black Sea sun."

The artist I. Aivazovsky devoted almost all his work to the Black Sea. His paintings depict the surface of the sea and formidable storms, ships and feluccas, cozy bays and picturesque cliffs on the seashore. Cinematographers love the Black Sea, films: "Scarlet Sails", "The Diamond Arm", "Amphibian Man" and others, filmed on the Black Sea, have become a real treasure of Russian cinema classics.

International Black Sea Day

International Black Sea Day is celebrated on October 31st. On this day in 1996 in Istanbul (Turkey), representatives of the governments of Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey and Georgia signed a strategic action plan to save the Black Sea. The need for such a document arose in connection with the danger of destruction of the unique natural complexes of the water area. Then it was decided to make October 31 the International Day of the Black Sea.

Literature

  1. Kuzminskaya G. "Black Sea". JSC "Polygraphizdat" Adygea "Maikop, 2006.
  2. Artyukhov. C. The beneficial effects of heliotherapy. Newspaper Chernomorskaya Zdravnitsa, August 1, 2007

1 The toponym Sochi comes from “Sh'ache, Sh'ashe- Adyghe forms of the name according to the one who lived here until 1864. the Ubykh subethnos "Sacha".
2 Tuapse is an Adyghe toponym consisting of two words: "tu" - two and "dogs" - water. The renowned specialist K.Kh. Meretukov believes that this name refers to a specific territory: "Tuapse" is a place located below the confluence of the two rivers Chilipsi and Pshenakho.
3 During the First World War, phyllophora was the only raw material for the manufacture of iodine.

As the Black Sea used to be called.

In different periods of human history, this sea was called differently: Pontus Euxine, which in Greek means hospitable sea, Scythian, Sarmatian, Cimmerian, Russian sea, Surozh, Tauride. It was called black, according to one version, because, according to another, due to the fact that objects made of metal, lowered to a great depth, turn black.

What was on the site of the Black Sea in antiquity.

To unravel this mystery, let's turn to the history of the sea. Black Sea formed on the site of the ancient ocean Tethys several million years ago, when volcanic eruptions began, and the Caucasus Mountains rose from the bottom of the sea in smoke and flames. First, a huge freshwater lake was formed, which included the Black, Caspian and Aral seas. And the modern Crimean and Caucasian mountains were just islands. But the land gradually rose, and the seas parted. Throughout its geological history, the Black Sea was either a freshwater lake or a sea, when due to faults in the earth's crust, a connection with the ocean appeared.


Two or three million years ago, huge whales swam in the Black Sea. Their fossilized skeletons have survived to this day. When the sea again became a freshwater lake, they perished, and only a few adapted to live in both salt and fresh water. These ancient species, which have survived to this day, are now called Sarmatian relics... Among them is the famous Azov-Black Sea sturgeon. adapted to live in salty sea water, and sturgeon caviar and fry survive only in fresh water, so the Black Sea sturgeon comes to spawn in the Don and Kuban.

When the Black Sea was formed.

Scientists suggest that some 6-8 thousand years ago the Black Sea was a freshwater lake, but due to a strong earthquake, the Bosphorus Strait arose. Through it, salty waters from the Mediterranean Sea poured into the Black Sea, giving birth to the legend of the worldwide stream... Whether this is true or not is unknown, but the fact that most of the inhabitants of the Black Sea, accustomed to fresh water, could not adapt to the new conditions, and died this is true... The remains of the former inhabitants, having sunk to the bottom, are still there, while due to their decomposition at the bottom in large quantities hydrogen sulfide is formed(gas with an unpleasant odor). Only the upper layer of the Black Sea - about 150-200 meters - is inhabited. Below, only bacteria that form hydrogen sulfide live.

Why is the water in the Black Sea not as salty as in the ocean?

Many rivers flow into the sea, like the Mediterranean, and even more so the ocean. Rivers flowing into the sea carry with them many nutrients. Therefore, in the Black Sea there is a high density of green mass of plankton and algae. Some are up to 10 meters long. There are even completely fantastic seaweed that glow at night. The coast of the Black Sea in some places is simply dotted with shells - houses of dead mollusks that lived or still live in the sea. The brightest of them are rapans. About that in the next article.