Besmenia Bay

Bay of Laitstadt
The Bay of Laitstadt as seen from the Coalition Space Station.
Location	Northeast Nortua
Type	Bay
Ocean/sea sources	Northern Ocean
Basin countries	New Anea Besmenia Candatora Tine
Settlements	Laitstadt, Blumgries, Neunkirch

The Bay of Laitstadt is a large marginal sea in the northeastern part of Nortua. The nations of New Anea, Besmenia, Candatora and Tine have coastlines on the bay, which is an extension of the Northern Ocean. The bay is named after the Besmenian capital of Laitstadt, which is located on the southern shore of the bay. The Bay of Laitstadt has a lower average salinity level than that of ocean water, with the main causes being the low rate of evaporation (the bay is ice-covered for much of the year), the large volume of terrestrial runoff entering the bay annually, the Bay of Laitstadt watershed covering much of Central Nortua, and the limited connection with the Northern Ocean and its higher salinity. Sea ice is about three times the annual river flow into the bay, and its annual freezing and thawing significantly alters the salinity of the surface layer.

Much of the bay has a polar climate, with several areas along the northern coasts dominated by the tundra, mainly in Tine and New Anea, giving harsh and cold winters. To the west, south, and southeast, the subarctic climate prevails because in the central summer months, heat waves can advance from the hot land and make the weather milder, with the result that the average temperature surpasses 10 °C or 50 °F. At the extreme southeastern tip of the extension known as Droske Bay arises a humid continental climate with a longer and generally hotter summer.

Geography and Climate

Polar bear walks on newly formed ice in early November at the Bay of Laitstadt.

Climate and waters

The Bay of Laitstadt has a lower average salinity level than that of ocean water, with the main causes being the low rate of evaporation (the bay is ice-covered for much of the year), the large volume of terrestrial runoff entering the bay annually, the Bay of Laitstadt watershed covering much of Central Nortua, and the limited connection with the Northern Ocean and its higher salinity. Sea ice is about three times the annual river flow into the bay, and its annual freezing and thawing significantly alters the salinity of the surface layer.

Much of the bay has a polar climate, with several areas along the northern coasts dominated by the tundra, mainly in Tine and New Anea, giving harsh and cold winters. To the west, south, and southeast, the subarctic climate prevails because in the central summer months, heat waves can advance from the hot land and make the weather milder, with the result that the average temperature surpasses 10 °C or 50 °F. At the extreme southeastern tip of the extension known as Droske Bay arises a humid continental climate with a longer and generally hotter summer.

Shores

The western shores of the bay are a lowland known as the Bay of Laitstadt Lowlands, which covers 324,000 km2 (125,000 sq mi). The area is drained by a large number of rivers and has formed a characteristic vegetation known as muskeg. Much of the landform has been shaped by the actions of glaciers and the shrinkage of the bay over long periods of time. Signs of numerous former beachfronts can be seen far inland from the current shore. A large portion of the lowlands in New Anea is part of the Polar Bear Provincial Park, and a similar portion of the lowlands in northern Besmenia is contained in a National Park, the latter location being a significant polar bear maternity denning area.

In contrast, most of the eastern shores form the western edge of the East Nortuan Shield in Candatora and Tine. The area is rocky and hilly. Its vegetation is typically boreal forest, and to the north, tundra.

Marine Life

Due to the pronounced seasonality of 2–6 months of midnight sun and polar night in the Bay, the primary production of photosynthesizing organisms such as ice algae and phytoplankton is limited to the spring and summer months (March/April to September). Important consumers of primary producers in the central bay and the adjacent shelf seas include zooplankton, especially copepods (Calanus finmarchicus, Calanus glacialis, and Calanus hyperboreus) and euphausiids, as well as ice-associated fauna (e.g., amphipods). These primary consumers form an important link between the primary producers and higher trophic levels. The composition of higher trophic levels in the Bay varies with region and with the sea-ice cover. Secondary consumers in the Bay are mainly sub-Northern Ocean species including herring, young cod, and capelin. In ice-covered regions of the central Bay, polar cod is a central predator of primary consumers. The apex predators in the Bay—marine mammals such as seals, whales, and polar bears—prey upon fish.

Endangered marine species in the Bay include walruses and whales. The area has a fragile ecosystem, and it is especially exposed to climate change, because it warms faster than the rest of the world. Lion's mane jellyfish are abundant in the waters of the Bay, and the banded gunnel is the only species of gunnel that lives in the ocean.