By first thought, one might think that the Grand Canyon in the United States and the Bothnian Bay have nothing in common. But – surprise, surprise!- also at the bottom of the Bothnian Bay, there are canyons or canyon-like seabed features. The Grand Canyon, not to mention the deepest canyon on earth, which stretches to … Continue reading Canyons – fast food available
Large shallow inlets and bays is a Natura 2000 habitat that can be found all around the Baltic Sea. There are several large shallow bays in the SEAmBOTH area as well, for example the Liminganlahti Bay in Finland and Råneå Bay in Sweden. A very shallow coast in Halosenlahti Bay, Haukipudas, Finland. Photo by Ashley … Continue reading Large shallow bays
I have dived in six continents and about 1030 dives. One of the best ones ever was a dive I did in August 2014 when we first found the clay labyrinth from Simo with my colleagues from Metsähallitus. It was a late afternoon or early evening on an extremely beautiful summer day, calm and warm, … Continue reading Clay canyons
When I think of “a habitat”, the first thing that comes to mind from underwater is the benthic substrate - is it sand, is it rock, is it mud? Because that pretty much determines, what can and cannot grow there, or borrow there, or attach there. With the pelagic habitat, it’s different. There is no … Continue reading Pelagic habitat
Extent of sea ice at Hailuoto island Jan 10th 2020. Photo Mika Kastell, ELY-center. Winter 2019-2020 has so far been very unpredictable and unusual. Most of the time in the whole of SEAmBOTH area the weather has been very mild and rainy. Hailuoto island in the middle of January is one of the northernmost snowless … Continue reading Lack of Sea ice 2019-2020
A small flad in the Bothnian Bay national park is separated from the sea by a shallow threshold and a narrow mouth. Photo Metsähallitus Have you ever heard of land uplift or land upheaval phenomenon? Or more correctly “post-glacial rebound”? It means that when the 2-3 km thick Ice age glacier was pressing the Scandinavia, … Continue reading Flads, lagoons
During a couple of sunny days in spring we had the opportunity to go out and learn more about one of the most iconic fish species of the Bothnian Bay - the grayling - and it's favourite habitat on the exposed, rocky shores. Together with our fish expert collegues we searched for grayling eggs along … Continue reading Exposed rocky shorelines – a grayling favourite
Here you can see some nice videos under the surface of the Bothnian Bay! The videos are from Summer 2018 and they have been recorded in both Sweden and Finland. https://youtu.be/xQ_i_vyr6ug
The deep sea floors are in constant darkness which means no plants can grow there. But that doesn't mean it's a place empty of life. During the autumn of 2018 SGU (the Geological Survey of Sweden) and partner in the SEAmBTOH project, conducted a survey cruise in the archipelago of Haparanda to map the depths … Continue reading Who lives at the bottom of the sea?
If you ever stand on a shallow sand deposit and try to determine, whether it’s a sandbank or not, you’re not the only one wondering about it. The EU habitats directive tells us that the Natura 2000 habitat 1110 sandbank is predominantly shallower than 20 m and is always covered by water, and it may … Continue reading Unique habitats: Sandbanks
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