May 19, 2011
From Tallinn to Helsinki
After spending less than a day in Tallinn, it was time for us to continue our expedition for doing recordings in Estonian and Finnish waters. We spend the next days to explore some areas close to the Estonian island Hiiumaa, both inside and outside marine protected areas. The divers were lucky to see and document a lumpfish (Cyclopterus lumpus). The lumpfish has a quite characteristic appearance, as it looks tropical and has a special suction disk; the fish can use these discs to adhere to the substrate. The divers saw the red male lumpfish, which is easily distinguished from the blue-greenish female. The species lives, besides in the Baltic Sea, in the North Sea, where it gets about 40 cm. In the Baltic Sea the fish has formed a dwarf type, which only gets 20 cm long.
Thursday we moved on to Finland and filmed an environment with a rocky bottom, with many eelpout in different ages. Thursday afternoon we had to be at the pilot station, which is placed 1 hour sailing from Helsinki. It is required to have a pilot onboard when entry Helsinki. We had an enjoyable, but rainy arrival to Helsinki through the beautiful archipelago.