Today we continued conducting inventories in the beautiful Quark archipelago, unfortunately we couldn’t use the drop-video camera because it rained the whole day. This doesn’t impact the diving though, so our talented divers carried out two dives as usual. The rest of us got a much-needed opportunity to catch up with some of our other … Read more
In this part of the Baltic, you notice the connection between the land and sea, fresh and salt water, best. A brackish environment, the most common species here are those typically found in lakes and rivers, albeit for a few bivalves, saltwater fish and marine algae. Foxes and minks lurk about the rocky coast and … Read more
Today we spent the night at port in Björköby, it’s an unusual place surrounded by dense forests and, unfortunately, the mosquitos here show no pity… We woke up early in order get to our work area for the day, some 5 miles northeast of Björköby, near the Ritgrund lighthouse. Once there, we took the rare … Read more
With Swedish waters behind us, we set-off for the second part of expedition in Finland. Our welcome here couldn’t have been any better: just a few miles after crossing the “border”, we arrived in an Marine Protected Area (MAP) for seals. Anchoring isn’t allowed within a MAP, so we anchored northeast of the zone and, … Read more
At 6 a.m. in the morning, my mobile phone’s rang; we had to make the most out of our time in the Baltic. An hour later, we set out in to a dense forest in search of the one of the most beautiful mammals: the moose. But, none of the four of us that went … Read more
After an early-morning visit by a team of reporters from TV4 Sweden, we conducted two dives around the island of Holmön. The first dive was rather unexciting: a flat seafloor that stretched almost to the shore and only a few species to document. The second dive, on the other hand, was far different: abundant marine … Read more
Today, we got to be out and film with the drop-video camera for several hours, since we now have two boats in addition to our floating home and office. The drop-video camera is an inventory tool that is widely used in both Sweden and Finland for marine inventories in the Baltic Sea. It allows you … Read more
Today we stayed at port (Holmsund), on one hand, this was due to bureaucratic problems with the boat and, on the other hand, because we were running out of water. So, we took advantage of the day to fill the tanks, fix several things, stock up on food, etc. This “resting” time also allowed us … Read more
During the night and early in the morning, there were clouds of mosquitos, moths, flies, etc. all around us. Iit made me realize how important insects are for ecosystem. Normally we do not pay much attention to small animals: insects, worms, leeches, amphipods… they are sometimes thousands of these individuals in any small area. Obviously, … Read more
Oceana has launched a 20-day expedition to survey important areas of marine life in the Quark (also known as Kvarken or Merenkurkku), between Finland and Sweden. The organisation’s second research project in the Quark is generously funded by the Swedish Postcode Lottery and will build on our initial surveys of the region in 2011 and 2013. As well … Read more
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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.
