Cyanobacterial bloom remains calm in sea, lake

The blue-green algae situation remains calm, even though observations in lakes and coastal areas have increased, said Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE) in a press release on Thursday.

Abundant blooms of blue-green algae have been observed at two inland water observation sites, in Southern Finland.

So far, no observations of surface blooms have been made in Finland's open sea areas. Surface waters both at sea and on inland waters are becoming warmer.

The national cyanobacterial monitoring is carried out as part of the monitoring of the state of the environment in cooperation with the Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment, municipal environmental and health authorities, and the Finnish Environment Institute (Syke). Finnish Rotary Clubs are also actively involved in nationwide cyanobacterial monitoring.

The cyanobacterial monitoring is based on the monitoring of cyanobacterial deposits in surface water.

The intention is to provide an overview of the cyanobacterial situation in different water bodies.

The monitoring includes about 400 permanent observation sites across the country on inland and coastal waters and in the archipelago.

Information on the cyanobacterial situation in the open sea areas is mainly obtained from satellite images, but also from the Finnish Border Guard, the marine research vessel Aranda, the optical device located at the Utö Atmospheric and Marine Research Station, as well as cruise and merchant ships (MS Finnmaid and MS Silja Serenade) measuring equipment.

The drift forecasts for cyanobacterial rafts in open sea areas are prepared in cooperation with the Finnish Meteorological Institute's Maritime Services.

Syke reports on the national cyanobacterial situation on a weekly basis every Thursday from the beginning of June until the end of August. The weekly algal reporting was launched in 1998.