THE 17 TH INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL CAMP SCHOOL OF MERI-PORI UPPER SECONDARY FINLAND 31.5. - 4.6. 2010

Measurement day report, Tuesday June 1 Program for the 17th International Camp School 2010

Sunday May 30 Arrival taking lodgings in Siikaranta Camping in Reposaari

Monday May 31 Introduction to the environmental upper secondary and the camp school The participating schools present themselves in Meri-Pori Upper Secondary Sightseeing in Pori, seeing around, shopping etc Nature House Arkki Evening program: games (Finnish and international games. Participants’ own activities )

Tuesday June 1 Introduction of Coast Watch Environmental measurements: Chemical water analysis Benthic study watching Evening program, Sauna

Wednesday June 2 Kirrinsanta Windpower Center Fortum coal power plant in Tahkoluoto Isosuo marshland nature protection area in Pomarkku Lecture on the state of Pori’s environment Evening program, Sauna

Thursday June 3 TVO nuclear power plant in Olkiluoto, Eurajoki The Working party in the Säkylänharju area (army area) Evening program, Sauna

Friday June 4 Sachtleben Pigments industrial plant: the participants get acquainted with the use of the x-ray fluorescence method in the analysis of the total sulphur content of pine needles Camp reports: the guests, our own students Departure

Our camp school has got support from Fortum, Sachtleben Pigments, TVO, Finnish Army: Säkylä Garrison, Pori Energia, the city of Pori and the Finnish National Board of Education.

Water Research

GUIDING TEACHERS Latvia Anja Hokajärvi Velga Kakse Simo Korpela Poland PARTICIPANTS Krystyna Pytlik Mateusz Stojco Denmark Peter Uhl Pedersen Finland Laura Skau Juho Heininen Pekka Tuomola Estonia Sanna-Mari Alanen Rainer Elp Aino-Mari Vestergård Martin Kikkas Martin Neitsov

The Introduction

Many factors have impact on the water quality - for instance ground, bedrock, vegetation and man. In densely populated areas the influence of man is great. The influence of man becomes apparent in the pollution and over-fertilization of water.

The quality of water can be studied in many ways. The aim of our water research was to study the water samples by chemical measuring of the water quality.

We studied the water quality of the area of Yyteri seashore, the Lake Enäjärvi and the River Kokemäenjoki. The measuring points are on the map below.

Observing places

1. The alluvial land of Yyteri

Yyteri is an almost four kilometre long sandy beach and after the sandy area there are several kilometres of alluvial land. Yyteri is located on the western coast of Meri-Pori. Our sampling place was on the alluvial land, where the shore water is shallow, the streaming of the water slow, and sedimentation high. It is a place where migrating waders and other aquatic have their resting area.

2. Lake Enäjärvi

Enäjärvi is a small lake near our school. It is one of the most extraordinary lakes in our country for its flora and fowl, because it is a representative of the Central European Potamogeton type. In the 1700's it was a gulf of the sea, which then, due to the rising of the earth (70 cm/100 years), was separated from the sea. Its length is 1,2 km, breadth 300 m and the average depth only 70 cm. The water is brown and its nutrient content is relatively high. The lake is the nesting area of hundreds of aquatic birds and gulls.

3. The River Kokemäenjoki

The basin of the River Kokemäenjoki is the fourth largest in Finland. It gathers waters from a 30000 km 2 area. About 130 000 people live in the river area. There are a lot of factories, power stations, fields and some forest. Nowadays the river, however, gets a lot less sewage and fertilisers than before. Therefore the stock of fish on the river has recovered. But still there are some fertilisers entering the river. Because of the industrial pollution of the previous decades, there are also heavy metals, such as mercury, still remaining in the bottom of the river. Predatory fish, such as pike and perch, may therefore have high heavy metal contents. The delta of the River Kokemäenjoki forms one of the finest estuaries in Finland. It is a labyrinth of islets and damp places, which is the habitat of versatile vegetation and animals. Our sampling place was on the shore of the delta of the river. This means that the water is shallow streaming slowly, which causes high sedimentation and therefore produces a mud bottom.

Water analysis

We determined the temperature, conductivity, and TDS (total dissolved solids) by Hach Conductivity/TDS meter. The contents of iron, nitrates, nitrites and phosphates we measured spectrometrically by the Hach DREL 2000 spectrophotometer at the sampling places. The pH-values were measured by Eytech pH-meter and free oxygen with Hach oxygen meter.

A spectrophotometer consists of two instruments, namely a spectrometer for producing light of any selected color (wavelength), and a photometer for measuring the intensity of light. The instruments are arranged so that liquid in a cuvette can be placed between the spectrometer beam and the photometer. The amount of light passing through the tube is measured by the photometer. The photometer delivers a voltage signal to a display device, normally a galvanometer. The signal changes as the amount of light absorbed by the liquid changes. If development of color is linked to the concentration of a substance in the solution, that concentration can be measured by determining the extent of absorption of light at the appropriate wavelength.

Conductivity is a measure of the ability of water to pass an electrical current. Conductivity in water is affected by the presence of inorganic dissolved solids such as chloride, nitrate, sulfate, and phosphate anions (ions that carry a negative charge) or sodium, magnesium, calcium, iron, and aluminum cations (ions that carry a positive charge). Organic compounds like oil, phenol, alcohol, and sugar do not conduct electrical current very well and therefore have a low conductivity when in water. Conductivity is also affected by temperature: the warmer the water, the higher the conductivity. The basic unit of measurement of conductivity is the siemens. Conductivity is measured in milli- or microsiemens per centimeter (mS/cm, µS/cm). Conductivity is measured with a probe and a meter. Voltage is applied between two electrodes in a probe immersed in the sample water. The drop in voltage caused by the resistance of the water is used to calculate the conductivity per centimeter. The meter converts the probe measurement to µS/cm and displays the result for the user. Some conductivity meters can also be used to test for total dissolved solids and salinity.

The pH probe measures pH as the concentration of hydrogen ions surrounding a thin-walled glass bulb at its tip. The probe produces a small voltage (about 0.06 volt per pH unit) that is measured and displayed as pH units by the meter. pH meter is nothing else but precise voltmeter, connected to the pH electrode, and scaled in such a way that it displays not the measured potential, but ready pH value.

Dissolved oxygen analysis measures the amount of gaseous oxygen (O 2) dissolved in an aqueous solution. Oxygen gets into water by diffusion from the surrounding air, by aeration (rapid movement), and as a side product of photosynthesis. When performing the dissolved oxygen test, only grab samples should be used, and the analysis should be performed immediately. Therefore, this is a field test that should be performed on site. Total dissolved gas concentrations in water should not exceed 110 percent. Concentrations above this level can be harmful to aquatic life. Adequate dissolved oxygen is necessary for good water quality. Oxygen is a necessary element to all forms of life.

The results of the chemical analysis

1.6.2010 Yyteri Enäjärvi Kokemäenjoki (sea) (lake) (river)

temperature ( oC) 16,4 19,7 17,4

conductivity (mS/cm) 7,78 0,39 0,12 o

TDS (g/l) 3,91 0,173 o 0,060

pH 7,7 8,5 7,9

Fe (mg/l) 0,20 1,63 0,41 o

- NO 3 (mg/l) 0,6 0,7 o 1,1

- NO 2 (mg/l) 0,006 o 0,036 o 0,039 o

PO 43- (mg/l) 0,07 o 0,21 o 0,08

O2 (free) (mg/l) 10,4 9,4 10,5

Percentage of oxygen saturation (%) 106,4 102,3 108,9

The conclusions

The water quality of the Yyteri alluvial land

The shallow water of Yyteri alluvial land and lack of strong streamings allow great sedimentation. Still the sandy bottom seems to stay rather clean, but coastline and the areas near coast contain bigger amount of biomass. Thus the nutrients of the biomass that winds and waves have brought may stay in the area. In spring and autumn time huge amounts of geese overnight at this area, and they have a rather big influence on the water by fertilising it. But depending on winds, the water can be cleaner open sea water or more fertilized coastal water. Our results show 0,6 mg/l nitrates and 0,07 mg/l phosphates. As to been measured from sea samples both these values are very high. Coastal waters seem to have stayed now in the area. The measured content of free oxygen was high also in seawater, 106,4 %. Large areas of shallow water allow free oxygen to dissolve efficiently from the air into a relatively small volume of water. Winds and waves mix small air bubbles into the water and in springtime photosynthesis creates still extra oxygen, so there is no wonder that oxygen content was oversaturated. The high content of salinity, high conductivity and relatively high pH values are natural things in sea water samples. Seawater is salty and has good buffering compounds like hydrogen carbonates against acidification. So this year´s pH value of 7,7 was rather near normal. Iron content of seawater was low compared to the other two sites. This may partially be due to it being used by marine planktonic algae which are known to consume iron as part of their life cycle. Other reason for the low iron content is the oxidisation of soluble ferro-ions to insoluble ferri- compounds like ferrihydroxide. When humus particles are decayed they create ammonia, and ammonia turns to nitrites. Nitrites turn to nitrates in a short time, and that is why, we do not usually find any big amounts of nitrites. The bottom of the sea area was relatively clean sand, so the measured content of nitrites (0,006 mg/l) is quite reasonable.

The water quality of Lake Enäjärvi

Enäjärvi is an eutrophic lake with a relatively high pH-value. Yet the noticed pH of this year was so high: 8,5 , that we must doubt our measure equipments´ capability. Also all the other measured pH- values were higher than could be expected. Usually the Finnish lakes have significantly smaller pH-values The effect of calcium carbonates in the soil of Enäjärvi area is rising up the pH. On the other hand the great amount of humus in the muddy bottom is trying to lower this value. There is really a great amount of biomass (1 m thick mud layer) in the bottom of Lake Enäjärvi. From that background, the measured big amount of nitrates (0,7 mg/l) and phosphates are quite understandable. Big amount of free oxygen (102,3 %) in surface water indicates huge algae and plant growth and continuing photosynthesis activity in the water of this otherwise muddy oxygen consuming lake. The humus decaying processes are going on in the bottom mud and, as result, the content of nitrites (0,036 mg/l) was clearly higher than in Yyteri seawater (0,006 mg/l). The soil of Enäjärvi area has high amounts of iron. The great amount of humus on the bottom of the lake and in coastal moss areas is also a reason to the high iron content (1,63 mg/l).

The water quality of the river Kokemäenjoki In the river water, the content of phosphates (0,08 mg/l) was rather high. The very heavy rains at the end of May may have bought phoshates from riverside agricultural fields to the river. In addition the sampling place on the muddy delta area of Kokemäenjoki river contains a big amount of phosphates, too. The phosphorus compounds that are brought by rivers to the Baltic Sea, are very dangerous. As to the algae growth, the content of phosphorus is the most important factor and that's why the increase of phosphorus will cause an increase of algae and the danger of poisonous algal blooming. The content of nitrates in the river water was also high (1,1 mg/l). The main source of nitrates in river water are the riverside agricultural fields. In addition the waste water treatment plants along the river still have a lot of work to do in order to have a better purification ratio for nitrates. The content of nitrites (0,039 mg/l) was the highest, that we noticed this year. This must be due to the muddy bottom. The iron content is rather high because of the humus that the river has brought and left to the delta area of the river Kokemäenjoki. The percentage of oxygen saturation in the surface water was 108,9 %.

Its fun to make measurements

”Grandfather” and the little ones Here we are, the whole water analysis group. BENTHIC ANIMALS

GUIDING TEACHER Poland Hanna Numminen Wiktor Komorowski Maria Konieczna PARTICIPANTS Damian Pogrzeba Karol Prosniak Denmark Christian Lindekrans Finland Lykky Bonde Jarkko Aalto Frans Duldin Estonia Tia Haavisto Evald Sepp Joona Hannola Tuomas Kause Iida Lehtonen Mikko Rosnell Noora Wahlberg

Location 1: The Alluvial of Yyteri

The first place we visited was the alluvial of Yyteri. The weather was excellent: warm and sunny. The water there is brackish seawater. We walked along the wooden trails until there was 10- 15 cm water depth. Then we just pushed our plastic jar without the bottom to the deep 25 cm and shovelled all the mud to the sieves and collected all the benthic animals. We also used a net to get some more animals. We found for example all the mussel species that exist in northern Baltic Sea: Macoma baltica, Mya arenaria, Mytilus trossulus and Cardium lamarcki. A bit disgusting catch was a fish parasite: Ligula intestinalis

Location 2. Lake Enäjärvi

The lake Enäjärvi water is of course fresh water. There the bottom of the lake was not soft enough to get equal sized sample tthat it would be comparable to Yyteri alluvial’s sample. So this time we have to settle for qualitative sampling. Here the benthic animals were most numerous. We found for example a beautiful caddish file ( Trichoptera ) living in its’ little apartment. There were also many dragon files and we caught also a little frog but we of course released it.

Location 3: The Delta-Area of the River Kokemäenjoki

The River Kokemäenjoki runs through the city of Pori to the Bay of Pihlava, which belongs to the Baltic Sea. There is the largest delta-area in the Nordic Countries and it is a nature reserve area, because of its unique flora and bird species It has a big influence on the nature of Pori. The water there is fresh and the current very slow because it is already delta area of the river. There the land rises in this region about 7mm per year, part of it is due to the sediments coming from the river. This can be seen by the expansion of the delta area closer to the sea.

We took the benthic sample from a village harbour and also there the bottom was quite hard so we could not shovel very deep. We found two very big ( Lymnae stagnalis ). They were 5 cm long! We caught also two big spiders which cocoon of baby spiders ( Dolomedes fimbriatus ). We found also a very fine specimen of water scorpion.

Benthic animal groups in different locations

Be curious , study, look sharp, and before all, keep your mind and net open!

BIRD WATCHING

QUIDING TEACHER Latvia Juha Paakkola Velga Kakse

PARTICIPANTS Poland Jolanta Mol Denmark Grzegorz Pawel Lorek Birthe Zimmermann Violetta Wierzbicka-Klosiewicz Jens Mortensen Tomasz Stoly Mie Petersen Finland Estonia Tuomas Lilja Raili Roo Santeri Linnala Aivar Soome Krista Meltokari Mihkel Seedre Teemu Paasiaho Jasmin Paukku

1. BACKGROUND

Bird group observed different bird species in three different places: Yyteri alluvial ( Y ), lake Enäjärvi ( E ) and the River of Kokemäki, Teemuluoto birdtower, ( T). First we show the list of the bird species seen in different places. Then the participants of the bird group tell us of their experiences and feelings of the day. Also a polish teacher and ornithologist Grzegorz Lorek kept his own list of birds which also includes the birds that he saw at Siikaranta camping area. That list is found as appendix.

2. RESULTS

SCIENTIFIC NAME FINNISH NAME ENGLISH N AME Y E T Acrocephalus schenobanus Ruokokerttunen Shedge wabler X X Anas clypeata Lapasorsa Shoveler X Anas crecca Tavi Teal X Anas Penelope Haapana Wigeon X X Anas platyrhynchos Sinisorsa Mallard X Anasquerquedula Heinätavi Garganey X Ant hus pratensis Niittykirvinen Meadow pipit X Apus apus Tervapääsky Swift X X Ardea cinerea Harmaahaikara Grey heron X Aythya faerina Punasotka Pochard X X Aythya fuligula Tukkasotka Tufted duck X X Botarius stellaris Kaulushaikara Bittern Bu cephala glangula Telkkä Goldeneye X X Corvus corone Varis Crow X Cygnus cygnus Laulujoutsen Whooper swan X X Cygnus olor Kyhmyjoutsen Mute swan X Emberiza citrinella Keltasirkku Yellow hammer X X X Emberiza schoeniculus Pajusirkku Reed bunting X Erithacus rubecula Punarinta Robin X X Fringilla coeleps Peippo Chatfinch X X X Fulica atra Nokikana Coot X X Hippolais icterina Keltarinta Icterine Warbler X Hirundo rustica Haarapääsky Swallow X X Larus aregenteus Harmaalokki Herring gull X Larus canus Kalalokki Common gull X X Larus marinus Merilokki Great black -backed gull Larus ridibundus Naurulokki Black -headed gull X X Mergus serrator Tukkakoskelo Headed Merganser X X Motacilla alba Västäräkki Pied wagtail Phalacrocorax carbo Merimetso Great Cormorant X Phylloscopus trochilus Pajulintu Willow wabler X X X Pluvialis squatarola Tundrakurmitsa Grey Plover X Podiceps cristatus Silkkiuikku Great cristed grebe X X Prunela modularis Rautiainen Dunnock X Sterna hirun do Kalatiira Common tern X X Sterna paradisaea Lapintiira Arctic tern X X Sylvia atricapilla Mustapääkerttu Blackcap X Sylvia borin Lehtokerttu Garden wabler X X Sylvia communis Pensaskerttu Whitethroat X Tadorna tadorna Ristisorsa Ruddy sheldu ck X Tringa totanus Punajalkaviklo Common redshank X Turdus iliacus Punakylkirastas X X Turdus merula Mustarastas Blackbird X

The number of all bird species during the different years

60

5 2 51 52 50 47 4 3 43 41 40 3 6

30 27

20

10

0 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

year

3. EXPERIENCIES AND FEELINGS OF THE BIRD WATCHERS

• Mie and I really enjoyed today’s trip. Bird watching is not something we would do on our own, but it was really interesting. We even saw a few butterflies and photographed them. Alluvial flats was really beautiful, and we enjoyed walking on the wooden bridges, it was fun and different – it was not always easy to keep the balance (: We saw the very rare grey plover.

It was a great trip even though we did not see that many birds. At the same time it was a good chance to socialise.

Jens Ulstrup Mortensen Mie Piilgaard Petersen Alssund Gymnasiet Soenderborg, Denmark

• Today we went to the school in the morning to listen a lecture about coast watch etc. After this we were divided into groups and our group went to go bird watching. We went to four different places. First we were equipped with binoculars. Then we went to the seashore to watch some birds, but there were not many. We also had a letter where were lots of bird names, but we managed to tick like only 5 of them. Then some mosquitoes drained all the blood out of me, but I managed to survive. Secondly, we went into another forest, into bird tower. We saw some swans from there, swimming in the lake. Thirdly, we went next to the lake to watch some birds. We were there for like 30 minutes and then returned, we had some fun there, but we didn’t manage to see many birds. At least it was funny. In conclusion, we had lots of fun there. The trip itself was great, the company was good and we had nice time. • So it was really a great event today, because I learned a lot about birds and how they could live. I saw lots of different birds and I really enjoyed walking around forest and searching for new birds. We also had a lecture about coast watch. It was really interesting to get new information about coasts. I think today was really important to us because we all get lots of knowledge about birds and coasts. Also I learned lots of new species of Finnish birds and how to spell their names. It is not really hard to do it, but it takes time. In conclusion it was really good and very interesting day, because we had good time with friends and also with nature. It’s very interesting to watch how birds can act or what they are doing. It was a really good day. We watched birds and travelled a little bit, I enjoyed that. I got better knowledge of birds and saw a lot of them. We saw a rare bird, it was pretty exciting.

• We woke up this morning at 7 am from another cottage because we left our keys inside to our cottage and the door was locked. Day started slowly with breakfast 8 o’clock and after that we headed to our fist location. Our first location was on the Yyteri Beach. There we made acquaintance with Keisarin Pankki, Finland’s biggest dune. After that we continued to the real beach to take some photos and coast watching. After Yyteri we went to the Lietteet. There we at first headed to a bird watching tower. There we spotted some of these next species: Common gulls, blackbird, one hawk and some mosquitos. Our next location was the Lake Enäjärvi. At the south side of lake we succeeded to spot some of mute swans and whooper swans. Next and the last location was the Teemuluoto. There heard sound of the nightingales.

The railings in bird towers are good, you can lean on either

your elbows

or binoculars on those. Appendix

Check list of bird species by Grzegorz Lorek Siikaranta, Pori, Yyteri, Enajarvi, Teemuluoto

31 May - 01 June 2010

1. Mute Swan 36. Goldcrest 2. Wood Warbler 37. Shoveler 3. Willow Warbler 38. Skylark 4. Common Gull 39. Redshank 5. Common Tern 40. Shellduck 6. Black-headed Gull 41. Yellowhammer 7. Goldeneye 42. Garganey 8. Siskin 43. Common Sandpiper 9. Pied Wagtail 44. Blackcap 10. Pied Flycatcher 45. Hobby 11. Common Rosefinch 46. Lapwing 12. Goosander 47. Dunlin 13. Mallard 48. Short-toed Treecreeper 14. Chaffinch 49. Red-breasted Merganser 15. Grey Heron 50. Kestrel 16. Hooded Crow 51. Wigeon 17. Barn Swallow 52. Whooper Swan 18. 53. Sand Martin 19. Oystercatcher 54. Osprey 20. Chiffchaff 55. Icterine Warbler 21. Linnet 56. Redwing 22. Woodcock 57. Nightingale 23. Cormorant 58. Coot 24. Eider 59. Pochard 25. Swift 60. Blue Tit 26. Jackdaw 61. Garden Warbler 27. Magpie 62. Tufted Duck 28. Wood Pigeon 63. Raven 29. Blackbird 64. Song 30. Teal 65. Crane 31. Barnacle Goose 66. Horned Grebe 32. Grey Plover 67. Gadwall 33. Herring Gull 68. Reed Bunting 34. Lesser black-backed Gull 69. Reed Warbler 35. House Sparrow 70. White-tailed Eagle

Go BSP go!

General coordinator Velga Kakse in full speed. Thank you all!

Meri-Porin lukio Rieskalantie 28800 Pori Finland phone +358 2 621 5380 fax +358 2 621 5381 [email protected] www.cedunet.fi/meripori/lukio