Cyanobacterial blooms increase in sea, lakes

Blue-green algae increased this week both in inland waters and at sea due to warm weather, said the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE) in a press release on Thursday.

The summer's first larger blue-green algae observations have been made in the Bothnian Sea.

In open sea areas, blue-green algae surface blooms have been observed especially south of Åland and in the eastern parts of the Gulf of Finland.

The SYKE observes the cyanobacteria occurrence as part of the monitoring of the state of the environment in Finland

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 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).