X-Ray Magazine #105 | May 2021

Welcome to Denmark We have more than 7,300km quite a few dive centres that Fortunately, we have some very (4,536mi) of coastline here in offer gear rental and will help good spots that are reachable Denmark, so no matter where you go diving. from the coast. On a good day, you are in our country, the sea is there are often many people at not far away. Please be advised that the these sites, and Danish divers are water temperatures around normally quite happy and more We have it all—well, almost Denmark are on the cold side. than willing to help you find a every­thing—when it comes to In the summer, we might reach good diving experience when diving in and around Denmark. 20°C at the surface, and some you are here. We have dives from the shore people may immediately say almost everywhere, and we have that this is too cold. So, if you are going to Denmark a huge number of wrecks dat- —whether it is for a holiday, ing back more than 200 years. Indeed, this is what we often hear studying, working or something It is even still possible to see from Danish divers who get their else—then bring your dive gear, some remains left from the wars dive certifications in crystal-clear join a local club and get some against Britain that took place in tropical waters. They ask, “Can great experiences underwater the early 1800s. We have wrecks you dive in Denmark?” Yes, you as well as above. Divers are nor- from WWI and WWII, and many most certainly can, and it’s amaz- mally a very social lot, and it is of them are still in rather good ing! Especially when the visibility rare that a good dive—or a day condition. We also have vessels is good, the sea is calm, and the of diving—is not ended with a that were sunk to create artificial sun is shining, there is a very good nice chat over a cup of coffee, reefs, after having been pre- chance that you will see a wide or maybe something stronger. pared and made safe for divers. range of diverse marine life. But the most important thing is that we all come out of the We have more than 150 local Even though we have a lot of water safe and sound—and if dive clubs, and most of them coastline, it is not always the the visibility is bad on one day, not only support scuba diving case that we can shore dive in then we just go and try again on but also spearfishing, freediving certain places along the coast another day. (apnea), underwater rugby and where there are some restric- snorkel training for kids—there are tions in place, either by nature Welcome to Denmark. We hope many activities, all driven by vol- itself, or because of harbours, or that you will have a great time unteers and people with a great other installations, and not least here—stay safe and enjoy the passion for all that goes on under because of the water depth. As diving. the water’s surface. you probably know, we have no mountains in Denmark—only Best regards, I am quite confident that if you a couple of hills—and it is the bring your own gear and con- same for the surrounding coast- Jesper Risløv tact a local dive club, they will line. It is flat, and one must often President of the help you with good advice on walk or swim some distance, Danish Sportdiving where to go, and maybe even in very shallow waters, Federation bring you along on their next to get to a depth in dive trip. However, if you and which one can call it your dive buddy are here for a dive. That is why a few days and just want to many dives are dive on your own, we also have done by boat.

MIKKEL NOE

10 X-RAY MAG : 105 : 2021 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO The Nature of Diving in

DenmarkText and photos by Peter Symes

Much more than the Little Mermaid, Hans Christian Andersen & Lego...

Along the coasts and in the Most parts of the seabed are soft, past the Danish straits and into the Baltic, dive centres will coordinate or have seas around Denmark, a wide composed of sand or mud, but there are the salinity drops and steadily decreases, deals with nearby hotels, holiday homes also extensive areas with a hard bottom eventually transitioning into brackish or summerhouse rental bureaus. And fine variety of species and types of made of gravel and pebbles, and what water with low biodiversity. dining, including 25 Michelin-star restau- habitats can be found. Most of are locally called stone reefs, as well as The Danish archipelago is a convolut- rants, can be found not far away in cities the Danish waters are shallow, some unique “bubbling reefs,” which are ed mosaic of islands, fjords, bays, inlets, and towns across the country. with only a few areas beyond vertical sandstone structures formed by estuaries and straits connecting the Diving takes place all year, but activities bacteria utilising methane gasses seep- main bodies of water. Despite being only are markedly lower during winter for obvi- the reach of recreational divers. ing up from deposits deep underground. 368km (229mi) from the northernmost ous reasons; it is much colder, and the Due to the marked differences in salin- point to the southernmost, the country’s days are short and often murky. That said, Technical diving skills can add range and ity, which is significantly lower south of the coastline is officially 8,754km long. There winter and spring diving often rewards bottom time, as well as provide added Danish straits, there is also a pronounced are 443 named islands and 1,419 islands those who choose to venture out while margins of safety, but they are not a difference in habitats and species across bigger than 100m2. In other words, one the water is cool and therefore has very requirement for most dives. Essentially, the the waters, most notably along the can nearly always find an alternate dive little or no algae, resulting in excellent vis- seas are a submerged landscape that north-south axis, which is the direction of location nearby if the first one blows out. ibility. Summers tend to be quite lovely, stretches from the brackish waters of the water flows and the overall salinity gradi- Denmark does not offer much of an with pleasant temperatures above and Baltic, over the straits between the main ent. Biodiversity is generally the highest integrated hospitality-and-dive industry in under water, as well as long days and islands to Kattegat and Skagerrak, and in areas with the biggest salt content, which accommodation, meals and div- evenings with white nights around mid- on to the North Sea, which has almost the whereas wrecks are much better pre- ing are offered as a combined package summer. During summer, there is no other same salinity as the oceans. served in areas where salinity is low. Once by an operator, but many of the larger place I would rather be.

11 X-RAY MAG : 105 : 2021 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO 500m Atlantic Ocean Denmark 400m The three straits are named Øresund, Because fresh and brackish water is less Store Bælt and Lille Bælt (The Sound, dense than oceanic seawater, as the Great Belt and Little Belt, respectively). Baltic water flows out, northwards, it does 300m The former two are busy shipping lanes so on top of the saltier oceanic water, connecting the Baltic Sea to the North which creeps along the bottom in the op- Sea and Atlantic Ocean. posite direction, wedging underneath in a southbound direction. 200m South of the straits South of the straits, we find the Baltic Sea, The straits are not just horizontal constric- which is brackish. It was a freshwater lake, tions, they are also shallow, except for called the Ancylus Lake, only 8,000 years some winding deep-water channels, 100m ago, and there is a continuous inflow of which serve as shipping lanes. This is freshwater from groundwater, rivers and where land bridges, not too long ago, streams in its catchment area in Northeast separated the freshwater lake from the 0m Europe. The Baltic discharges through the ocean and made southern Sweden con- Danish straits adjoining the North Sea; how- tiguous with Central Europe. Depth ever, the flow is stratified and complex. 0 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 Salinity profile in promille salt content. 80m As a result, the bottom Salinity drops markedly south of the profile of the straits Danish straits, which act as thresholds constitutes thresholds, over which the salty and denser water akin to a tall doorstep from the north, only to a lesser degree, 64m Kattegat Sweden on the seabed, which is able to creep over. See figure below. obstructs deeper lay- ers from flowing over Denmark sits at a choke point between the Baltic and the Atlantic, and the Danish straits are major shipping lanes. 48m and into the Baltic— The Sound not entirely, but to (Øresund) quite a limited extent. Norway The significance of this Denmark’s waters, or 32m inflow of salty water is, Sweden Exclusive Economic Zone among other things, Outflow from the Baltic (EEZ), comprise two seper- that it brings oxygen ate areas; The smaller one Little Belt Great Belt to the deeper layers in the Baltic surrounds the 16m (Lillebælt) (Storebælt) of the Baltic, which island of Bornholm. are otherwise quite Germany Baltic Sea depleted. 0m Depth South of the straits, biodiversity drops The key to appreciating the nature and distinct significantly because far less species qualities of Danish dive sites and diving is under- Depth chart showing the straits, live, or can even survive, in brackish lower Kattegat and the Western water than in fresh or saltwater. standing how the bottom profile forms a saddle Baltic. Most of the seabed within point going across the Danish straits in an east- Danish waters lies within reach On the other hand, because salin- west direction. This ridge or shallow plateau divides of recreational diving. Deeper ity is low, wrecks are much better locations are mainly found in the seas into waters of significantly different salinity, Germany Germany preserved, which is also due in part Poland the Baltic, and there are some in the middle of Kattegat. because shipworm, which devours and as a result, also into different types of biotopes. timber, cannot thrive here. So, old wooden wrecks, often many cen- turies old, remain well preserved on Bottom topography, salinity & currents the bottom.

12 X-RAY MAG : 105 : 2021 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO Free app forecasts travel currents In recent years, often when transects Here, we find the usual complement of are done prior to laying down cables or saltwater flora and fauna. The Danish Maritime Authority has cre- pipelines, several medieval shipwrecks ated an app that is simply a brilliant have been discovered with their rigging This salty water, being denser than the tool for divers. still intact. The Vasa, now on display in its water in the Baltic, flows south along own museum in Stockholm, is arguably the bottom, underneath the outflow- It is called Sejladsudsigt, the most famous example of a perfectly ing brackish water from the Baltic, often which roughly translates preserved warship from the 17th century. resulting in a strata of currents going in into “Forecast for Sailing.” Steel ships also suffer much less corrosion different directions at different depths. It is available for iPhone, and remain intact for a much longer time iPad and Android. thanks to the same low salinity as well as It is predominantly in the three straits lack of oxygen in the Baltic Sea. that we find the best and most diverse It comes with a fascinating and most dive sites, and surely the most popular. useful feature forecasting the currents, North of the straits This is down to two main factors. Firstly, even at different depths. The screen- North of the straits, in between the pen- the straits have been the main shipping shots below show you how it looks. insular part of Denmark called Jutland, lanes between the Baltic and the Atlan- and the Swedish west coast, we have a tic for centuries, if not millennia, so this is The interface and menu system are body of water known as Kattegat, which obviously also where many shipwrecks also in English. All one has to do is select is saline, just slightly less than the ocean. have occurred. The Danish waters are lit- a region and pick a depth, and then tered with them, including mod- the app displays colour-coded graphs PETER SYMES ern vessels, warships and planes depicting the predicted strength and from WWII, warships from WWI Screenshot from the app MarineTraffic (available for both Android and iOS), showing shipping direction of currents, which may be dif- and earlier, tall ships and cargo traffic moving through Danish waters ferent at differ- vessels, Hanseatic kogges and ent depths. PETER SYMES Dutch flutes, Viking ships and canoes from all the way back The information to the Stone Age. There are tens is also available of thousands of registered loca- on a website: tions, but, granted, that count https://ifm.fcoo. includes wrecks of which there is dk now barely anything left to see. So, now one can The second reason is the current, know what to ex- Thermocline which in places—most notably pect in advance in Lille Bælt (Little Belt), which is and prepare ac- arguably the area with the best cordingly for a dive sites in the country—carves planned dive.  out steep banks and drop-offs close enough to the beach that Halocline you can just walk out from the coast and dive to, say, a depth 40m without much of a swim. We will get back to that in more detail in the following stories.

Hold on to the downline, and your camera! At times, Where there are currents, there divers may have to descend and ascend though a are also nutrients, and conse- water column that is stratified into three layers seperated quently, thriving life, and the Mind heavy shipping in the southern part of the Great Belt. Large ships travel in the deep-water by a thermocline and a halocline. Each layer may have banks along the straits or stone channel, which is quite narrow in some places. Divers head out to one of the many wrecks that currents that run in different directions and strengths. reefs often display prolific life.  lie along this channel, and in some cases, right in the middle of it—such as the WWII German Below the halocline, the visibility is often much better destroyer M36, which is described later in a following story. This location is one of the more because the water is cool and devoid of algae. extreme, in regard to shipping. In most cases, dive sites are not so close to shipping lanes.

13 X-RAY MAG : 105 : 2021 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO Denmark: General Overview Skagen At the tip of Denmark, where Kattegat and Skagerak meet, currents clash and shoals keep shifting. Exposed to storms and waves Skagerak from the North Sea and the Atlantic, these The Skagerrak is between 80 and 140km wide. It deepens treacherous waters have caused a lot of towards the Norwegian coast, reaching over 700m at shipwrecks over time and now offer some the Norwegian Trench. Near the Danish coast, a belt up of the best wreck diving in the country. The to 50km wide comprises sandy, gravelly or stony bottom prevalence of choppy seas makes planning at up to 50m depth. This sea uncertain and diving often challenging. is much exposed to wind and wave action. The most famous wreck here is the ferry M/S Skag- Kattegat erak, which went down in 1966 Parts in the middle are without loss of life. Now it lies deep. It has assorted upside down at a depth of 25m. wrecks and reefs with life. Areas around the islands of Læsø and Anholt are shal- North Sea low with shoals. Both islands The Danish west are quite a way out. Big coast slopes very seal colonies can be seen gently; For every on the islands' beaches. kilometre, it only gets 1m deeper. Lots of tall ships have Øresund foundered here by The Sound is the second being blown toward busiest shipping lane. With shore in storms and Lakes and streams low to moderate depths, grounding on sand it has many good wrecks, bars. Little remains of including a number of tall Find dive buddies in these wrecks be- ships stemming from 16th, cause the surf grinds 17th and 18th century na- Denmark - become a them down. Wide val battles, some still with beaches with surf cannons present. member of a local club make entry chal- lenging. Farther out, Do you want interesting diving in Denmark however, there are Lillebælt Fehmarn Sound Østersøen - join a local club and through them DSF mighty warships from (Little Belt) is Moderate depth; a.k.a. The Baltic Sea, or (Danish Sports divers Federation - a voluntary member organization). the Battle of Jutland the narrow- many good wrecks. more specifically, the south- There is about 160 local DSF dive-clubs in Denmark the largest naval est of the western part of it. Because battle of WWI. three straits. of the low salinity, wrecks - join us and get the optimal conditions for you It is generally Storebælt are much better preserved as a diver - before, during and after your dives. considered the best area to dive The Great Belt and its southern in these waters. It is also because locations have lots of extension, Langeland's Belt, here we find the greatest Membership benefits: biodiversity and can easily be are shipping lanes littered with depths, which technical di- • You are welcome with us, no matter where you have obtained accessed from the beach. wrecks. There are also nice vers can explore. The island your diving education and what certification you have patches with reefs and lots of Bornholm sits by itself, • Participation in instructor and dive leader training of sea life. Also, the east of the rest of Den- • The magazine “Sportsdykkeren” Sydfynske Øhav bridge pillars, which are mark and south of Swe- • Access to divers´ insurance and Falck’s crisis help (South Funen Archipelago) is a picturesque area covered with sessile life, den. It is the only part of • An active website with many small islands and plenty of marinas, are popular dive sites. the country that has rocks, • A meeting point for diving in Denmark making it a favourite among boaters. The area is Currents can be rip- which makes for a differ- relatively shallow and easy to dive. There are ping, so fun drift dives ent type of diving. The • You automatically become member of CMAS, EUF and DIF some good wrecks, including the artificial reef can be had. island is a popular holiday M/F Ærøsund, as well as Stone Age settlements. destination. DSF - www.sportsdykning.dk Find your local club >

14 X-RAY MAG : 105 : 2021 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO Impressions of Denmark — A Selection from Nature, Culture, Town & Countryside Text and photos by Peter Symes

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Heather fields by the beach in Rørvig on the bridge that crosses the ring lakes in Copenhagen; A swan cygnet naps in island of Zealand; Winter evening at Nyhavn in Copenhagen; Wildflower; the embrace of its mother; Wild anemone flowers, which only bloom for Supermoon and thatched-roof cottage, Rørvig; Preparing dive gear and a couple weeks in springtime, creating carpets of flowers like snow in the underwater cameras for a dive in Little Belt, Jutland; Folks hang out on the forests around Zealand

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NATIONAL MUSEET

Kronborg Castle guards the narrowest point of Øresund (above); Medieval frescos in a village church (right); Crown jewels on display at Rosenborg

METTE JOHNSEN / VISITDENMARK Castle (top center)

Nothing beats a great meal made from local produce after a day of diving, cycling or just walking the city. In recent years, count- less good eateries have popped up everywhere.

Many Copenhageners commute by bicycle (above); The Sun Chariot, Early Bronze Age, ca.1400 BC (above inset); Medieval ruins of Hammershus on the island of Bornholm VISIT DENMARK in the Baltic Sea (below)

Jazzhouse Montmartre in Copenhagen is one of the best jazz venues in Europe (above); The northern tip of Denmark where two seas meet (center Frederiksborg Castle, noted for its towers and turrets, is one of the finest examples

left); Copenhagen's old neighbourhoods have been restored (top left). VISIT DENMARK of Renaissance architecture. It is now a museum open to the general public.

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On a large area of moorland, which is now protected, the “king stone” in Odsherrred marks the spot where Harald THIS PAGE: The many sheltered waters and bays in Denmark make it an optimal place to holiday with family. Fishing Bluetooth was elected king of Denmark in 1076 (above); A for crabs never gets old. The blue contraption (top) is a race track for crabs being released back into the sea. Even good place for fossil hunting, Møns Klint is a stretch of chalk at mid-summer, one can find beautiful beaches and sand dunes, which are not one bit crowded. After a good day cliffs along the southern coast of Denmark (top left); The at the beach or in the marina, why not pick up some fresh local produce from a few of the roadside stalls or farms? Seafood barbeque in Rørvig Havn (harbour). The res- beach at Rørvig, on the northern coast of Zealand (right) Or you can hang out at the marina and enjoy seafood barbeque in the long summer evenings. During summer, taurant is right next to a shop with fresh and smoked many good concerts also take place in the recreational areas in the countryside and resorts along the coast. fish; Beth Hart performs in Tivoli Gardens (top right).

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