Researchers from Lund University have found increased fish activity around the bridge’s pillars, as well as plenty of other marine life, such as mussels.

It was feared the bridge would block the flow of oxygen-rich water from the North Sea into the Baltic, but the researchers say this isn’t the case.

This study was part of the project “Havsresan 2010″. Information in Swedish.

Known wrecks on the Skåne coast

Our knowledge of our marine heritage and the natural marine environment in southern Sweden is very weak.  There are of course many reasons for this lack of knowledge, but a major contributing factor is that water is an obstacle in the availability of the marine landscape. This leads to lower priority in the protection of subsea archaeological sites by the Cultural Monuments Act than sites on land.

Water, or rather the depth, has nevertheless been very positive as it has acted as a protection for the wealth of wrecks and archaeological sites. However, this has been drastically changed over the last decades because of the subsea technology development.

It is increasingly easy to both find and plunder (or in ignorance destroy) irreplaceable cultural values, while legislation, information and education is lagging behind. Due to ignorance and carelessness can tomorrow’s antiquities be gone before they pass the current one hundred year limit and are legally protected.

The overall objective of the project “Our marine heritage” (Vårt marina arv) is to demonstrate to the public, politicians and others what is happening, by focusing on the cultural values that are hidden below sea level. The aim is to provide an assessment of the future need for protection for our marine landscapes. All items below the surface are obviously not worthy of protection, but how can you determine which objects to preserve for the future if we do not know what is there or even in the condition known wrecks are?

The latest round of “Vårt marina arv” was held in the summer of 2008 in Kämpinge Bay and at Falsterbo. Read more about it at the project site (in Swedish).

Lund, Sweden, May 12, 2009

Diver by the wood structure. Photo by Michael Palmgren SEA-U

This weekend divers made unique findings in the woods outside eastern Skåne which most likely represents traces of human activities. Arne Sjöström, diver and archaeologist, has encountered a 4×2 meters wooden structure on the subsea peat banks. This unique finding is probably a big fish trap. They have also found torch and charcoal residues in the bottom layers of the mud banks, as well as very typical round stones that most certainly were used as weights for fishing nets. The archeologist’s says that everything points to that there should be dwellings nearby.

If their assumptions are correct, it will be the oldest fishing gear found on the seabed off the Swedish coast. Its age will be determined by the C 14-method in the near future, but it is suspected to be 8 000-10 000 years old.

Tree still standing after 10 000 years, cut for testing. Photo by Michael Palmgren SEA-U

The pine forest at the bottom of the sea is still not completely mapped, but it is estimated to be several square kilometers wide, extending out to at least 30 meters deep. The absence of ship worm in the Baltic Sea makes everything surprisingly well preserved, even though it is up to 10 000 years old. “The trees are almost as new when you bring them to surface, with the root system and everything intact.” says Kjell Andersson, research engineer at the Lund Institute of Technology.

Kjell Andersson is the initiator behind the “Havsresan 2009″ program where Maritime Administration, the Swedish Coast Guard, Lund University, and several other agencies and businesses work together in a multidisciplinary project. The goal is to get a better picture of the coastal seabed outside eastern Skåne. “Available charts show only a rough outline of what is out there,” says Kjell Andersson.

The sandy sea bed covering most of the remains of the forest. Photo by Michael Palmgren SEA-U

For more information contact Kjell Andersson, Engineering Geology, Lund Institute of Technology, +46 704 91 24 84, or Madeleine Lundin, project coordinator for the Marine Center, Simrishamn Municipality, +46414 81 91 24.

Comparison between un-enhanced and lyynified video:

A video from 1995 showing the sunken forest. Before lyynification was invented.

[See post to watch Flash video]

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Pressrelease in English and Swedish.