Darss-Zingst Bodden Chain

The Darss-Zingst Bodden Chain is a waterbody on the Baltic Sea coast northeast of Rostock in Germany. It consists of a string of several lagoons or bodden arranged in an east-west direction that are separated from the open sea by the Fischland-Darß-Zingst peninsula. The surface area of these lagoons is 197 km² and the average water depth is only about two metres.The individual lagoons of the Darss-Zingst Bodden Chain are the: Saaler Bodden Bodstedter Bodden Barther Bodden and Grabow.The salt content of the water rises from west to east, because only at the eastern end of the bodden chain is there a link to the Baltic Sea via the Gellenstrom stream and the small opening between Großer Werder and Kleiner Werder, where the waters are able to mix. There used to be other links to the sea like the Prerowstrom stream to the north and the Permin and Loop by Fischland to the west . The rivers Recknitz and Barthe discharge into the Darss-Zingst Bodden Chain and, in all, it has catchment area of 1,578 km². On the south shore of the bodden chain lie the towns of Ribnitz-Damgarten and Barth.