Current information on algal blooms
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Summary review on harmful algal bloom monitoring in Finland 9/15/2011: The blue-green algae situation followed the long-term average in inland waters, in the Finnish marine areas situation was worse than the long-term average
The blue-green algae situation was calm in the marine sites at the beginning of the summer. However, clearly more blue-green algae were observed during the turn of July and August than usually when comparing to the long-term average. The algae occurrences decreased rapidly during August due to strong winds. The most abundant occurrences were observed in the northern part of the Baltic Sea basin, in the southern part of the Finnish Archipelago and in the western part of the Gulf of Finland.
In the inland waters no long-term algal blooms were detected due to varying weather. Similarly to the marine sites, the most abundant algal blooms were observed in the turn of July and August and less algae than usually was observed during mid-July and mid-August.
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A nationwide algal monitoring network
Algal blooms are monitored at more than 300 permanent monitoring locations in the Baltic Sea and inland waters in all regions of Finland. These sites are chosen to be representative of different types of waters in terms of their depth, size, water quality and nutrient levels. Monitoring is carried out weekly from the beginning of June to mid September. The extent of blue-green algal blooms is first assessed by visual observation on a scale from 0 (no algae) to 3 (very abundant algal blooms). If algal blooms are clearly evident, samples are taken to allow the identification of the species involved.
Monitoring is mainly carried out by municipal environmental and health officials, but members of the public also help with this work. Observations from open marine waters are taken automatically by commercial ships. Additional information for open marine waters are obtained by remote sensing and visual observations submitted by the pilots of the Finnish Frontier Guard.
Monitoring harmful algae
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Summer 2003. © Seppo Knuuttila
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Finland’s environmental authorities closely monitor occurrences of blue-green algae, and have kept records of harmful blooms since the 1980s, with the help of samples submitted by officials and members of the public.
More systematic monitoring of harmful algal blooms began in 1998, and nowadays provides a comprehensive overview of the state of algal blooms throughout Finland's inland and coastal waters and the Baltic open sea area. Monitoring is organised jointly by the Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment, municipal environmental officials and the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE).
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