Under the surface
Sea hides many interesting things underneath. Compared to the nature above the sea level the
Fractured landscape of the Archipelago Sea is an interesting environment for diving. Under the
Traces of the human activity
The weakening of the state of the Archipelago Sea can be spotted also under the water. Alarming signs are for example declining of the sight-depth, increase of the filamentous algae and dead area on the bottom of the sea.
The situation is not completely hopeless. There are still a lot of beautiful and worth of preserving things left, as you can see from the under water pictures taken by the photographer Jukka Nurminen.
Virtual Finland: Beneath the Waves of the Archipelago Sea
The Finnish Inventory Programme for the Underwater Marine Environment, VELMU surveys the diversity of the underwater nature of the Baltic Sea in Finland. Programme is aimed to both living and inorganic nature.
ASSIGNMENT 10
Find out what kind of information the VELMU-programme is producing and where it can be used.
Dangerous waters
Archipelago Sea has many challenging bout routes which have turned out to be fatal for many ships. Famous shipwrecks on the area are for example Vrouw Maria and St Mikael. It is allowed to dive there only with the licence. All wrecks are underwater cultural heritage, which can not be harmed with for example anchoring or diving.
More information:
Finland´s environment administration: The Finnish Inventory Programme for the Underwater Marine Environment, VELMU
Finland´s environment administration: The Archipelago Sea as a pilot area
