Bojana River: Fresh or Salty?




Univerzitet Crne Gore
Univerzitet Crne Gore
Univerzitet Crne Gore
Univerzitet Crne Gore

The Bojana River is one of the shortest, yet most unusual rivers in the Balkans. It originates from Lake Skadar in Montenegro and, after a 41 km course, flows into the Adriatic Sea, forming the border between Albania and Montenegro along part of its length.

One of the river’s most remarkable features is its naturally reversed flow – under exceptional hydrological conditions, the sea can push water back toward the lake. To observe and study this unusual phenomenon, researchers from the Institute of Marine Biology have initiated continuous salinity monitoring at three locations along the Bojana – near the village of Sveti Nikola, and both upstream and downstream along the river’s course. From March to mid-June, the recorded salinity values ranged between 0.12‰ and 0.20‰, which falls within internationally accepted standards for freshwater (water with salinity below 0.5‰ is considered suitable for drinking).

At the end of June, field research confirmed the occurrence of stratification: in the upper layer of the water column, down to a depth of 3 metres, the water remained fresh (salinity up to 0.4‰), while below 4 metres, the measured salinity was 35.57‰ – which corresponds to typical seawater. The measurement was conducted near Paratuk Island (Bird Island), approximately 9 kilometres upstream from the mouth of the Bojana.

This monitoring is being carried out within the framework of the international Interreg IPA Adrion CRADLES project, whose primary aim is the identification and protection of nursery areas – regions suitable for the development of juvenile stages of fish and other marine organisms. In that context, brackish waters, often found at river mouths, have been recognised as key habitats for many species.

Image

Number of visits : 323



Ne propustite nijednu važnu vijest, pretplatite se na vijesti Akademski forum.