Press releases

In lakes, cyanobacterial observations are slightly up compared to last week, but abundant cyanobacterial blooms have not been observed. In the Finnish sea areas, some cyanobacterial observations have been made in the Archipelago Sea as well as on the coasts of the Gulf of Finland and the southern parts of the Bothnian Sea. Pollen that misleadingly resembles cyanobacteria occurs in places, both in lakes and in sea areas.”

The Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE) has started reporting observations of summer 2021 cyanobacteria blooms this week. Some cyanobacteria has been observed at one observation site in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland. So far, only three observations of cyanobacteria have been made in the lakes. There may be yellow pollen in the coastal waters that can look deceptively like cyanobacterial blooms.

The risk of significant and widespread cyanobacterial blooms this summer in the eastern Gulf of Finland and the main basin of the Baltic Sea is slightly higher than in summer 2020.

According to a recent calculation by the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE), municipal climate emissions decreased by 5.5 per cent in 2019 compared to the previous year.

The annual spring monitoring cruise of R/V Aranda took place in late April. This time the researchers ventured into new fields, as they also took genetic samples for phytoplankton. During the cruise the phytoplankton spring bloom was already at its peak in the Gulf of Finland. Spring is the time with the densest phytoplankton blooms in the Baltic Sea, but the phenomena is mostly unnoticed.