ICES-IOC-SCOR Study Group on GEOHAB Implementation in the Baltic (SGGIB)

The SGGIB Chair, M. Viitasalo attended the WGHABD meeting in Aberdeen, 17–20 March 2003, to present the situation to WGHABD. Some of the WGHABD participants had also participated in one or both of the previous SGGIB meetings, so this was an opportunity to discuss SGGIB problematic issues as well. During this meeting, M. Viitasalo presented the history of the group, and presented some recent research results concerning the effects of cyanobacteria on various aquatic animals in the Baltic. Highlights of the results include: (i) a large part of the cyanobacteria blooms do not sediment but decay in the water column, thus fueling the microbial loop; (ii) certain copepods reproduce efficiently within the decaying bloom, despite the large amount of toxins in water, (iii) cyanobacteria filaments interfere with the predation of crustacean predators; (iv) nodularin is transferred from cyanobacteria to fish through zooplankton; (v) fish larvae grow slower when feeding on zooplankton exposed to cyanobacteria toxins.