NAANTALI: Rafts of cyanobacteria present this summer
Photo credit: CB/Jaakkoo Ruola
Blue-green algae, cyanobacteria, is “catastrophically” present in many places on the Archipelago Sea this year, nature photographer Jaakkoo Ruola warned.
Co-founder of the Operation Unique Archipelago Sea campaign, Ruola told the Yle broadcaster that he had never experienced a summer like the present one.
The Archipelago Sea part of the Baltic Sea between the Gulf of Bothnia, the Gulf of Finland and the Sea of Aland within Finland’s territorial waters is environmentally fragile, Ruola maintained.
As a child, he was able to swim in clear water and catch fish, and there was abundant seaweed, he recalled. “I would love for my grandchildren and future generations to experience the same joys,” he said.
Also speaking to Yle, Vivi Fleming, who heads the Changing Baltic Group at the Finnish Environment Institute (Syke), agreed that the algae appeared to have increased in the western Gulf of Finland. Monitoring also showed an increase in the Gulf of Bothnia.
Over the past decade, the previously sporadic blue-green algae rafts seem to have become an everyday occurrence, Fleming said.
Syke warned that children and pets should not enter the contaminated water and those exposed to the contaminated water should be thoroughly washed in clean water as soon as possible. Adult should also avoid swimming, Syke advised.
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Originally from the UK, Linda is based in Valenca province and is a reporter for The Euro Weekly News covering local news. Got a news story you want to share?
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