May 23, 2011
The Gulf of Finland
The last days have been unusual for this expedition; we had spent more time in land than at the sea. We arrived to Helsinki on the 19th May, where the Oceana Baltic Sea Expedition team had time to explore the city. By being onboard on this expedition we are working every day, also in weekends, and therefore a day off in harbor is well deserved. On the 20th May we left Helsinki for sailing to the most eastern part of the Baltic Sea, St. Petersburg in Russia. St. Petersburg is placed where the river Neva runs into the Baltic Sea, and therefore St. Petersburg is an important port for Russia. We spend less than a day in this beautiful and historic city, to head back for Helsinki, where we had meeting activities Monday. Baltic Sea Action Group visited Hanse Explorer in the harbor of Helsinki, and we had an encouraging meeting about the situation of the Baltic Sea. Later that day we left the Finnish capital, and sailed west for exploring more of the Finnish underwater world the coming week.