Oceana proposes that Finland and Sweden create a transboundary marine protected area in the Quark, as current protections are patchy and do not guarantee the preservation of this unique area. The Quark (Kvarken in Swedish, Merenkurkku in Finnish) is one of a kind in Europe, because of its unusual geological formations and its mix of … Read more
Oceana’s scientists have wrapped up their 20-day expedition in the Quark area (also known as Kvarken and Merenkurkku) surveying areas across the archipelago in both Finnish and Swedish waters. Oceana will now study all the data collected at-sea in an effort to support the designation of a transboundary marine protected area to safeguard this remarkable area against threats including … Read more
Time to summarize and to start thinking about the report we must prepare about all the findings we’ve made during the expedition. Today, we had an event in Vaasa with journalists, scientists and representatives from governmental agencies and fisher’s associations. It was good to have the chance to exchange information and feelings with people that … Read more
Due to the inclement weather, we’ll have to stay in port for the next few days and today will be our last day at sea. Luckily, after anchoring overnight, we were able to sail towards our work site for the day and were able to complete a dive, a grab, CTD and use the drop … Read more
6:00 – The raise the anchors while we’re still in bed, with a long trip ahead to our first diving spot, we set-off earlier than usual. 6:45 – Various alarm clocks ring at the same time, signaling another day of hard work lie ahead. 7:00 – The smell of a freshly-made food reaches its way … Read more
Being the last diary entry I’ll make on this expedition, I’ll try to tell you, from a personal viewpoint, what I’ve felt throughout these past, intense days. The scientists on board, led by Ricardo Aguilar, have already classified some 70 species. As you can imagine by now, this is despite the fact that out of … Read more
Driven by a weather report of increasing winds, we jumped into the water earlier than usual near the island of Bullergrund, near Vaasa. The dive was similar to the ones we did yesterday: we dropped down to 8 meters and were unable to position the metallic frame we use for sampling because it kept on sinking into … Read more
I was so happy to manage squeezing-in the opportunity in my schedule to visit our expedition in the Quark. And, equally, I was happy that my visit fit within the expedition’s schedule as well. It would have been such a pity to miss this chance while the crew was in Finnish waters. We had Vasabladet, … Read more
Our workday started today just like it did in my previous diary entry: we were visited by journalists, only this time they were from the Finnish newspaper, Pohjalainen. Later, before heading to our new port of Vaasa, we conducted a dive in the area near Holgrundberget, in rather murky waters at a maximum depth of 3,5 … Read more
Sign up today to get weekly updates and action alerts from Oceana.
We have already protected nearly 4 million square miles of ocean and innumerable sea life - but there is still more to be done.
Oceana in Europe gratefully acknowledges EU funding support.
