beaches' opening period

skparallax · Post by **skparallax** » Sat Jul 26, 2014 2:11 pm

hi guys

on the official website of Helsinki there is an info about all beaches of the city and their opening periods (about 10.08) and hours

maybe someone knows if it is prohibited to swim after 10.08 or it is just a formality?

thanks

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riku2 · Post by **riku2** » Sat Jul 26, 2014 3:29 pm

do you mean this link http://www.hel.fi/hki/liv/en/sports+fac ... anta+beach

they have not really made much of the "supervised beach" heading. the dates/times refer to when the lifeguard is on duty which is school holiday times only.

"opening hours" would be better written as "lifeguard on duty" or "operating hours".

I suppose there are some places where the law/by-laws prohibit swimming - intakes to nuclear powerstations, around weirs/dams etc but generally you can swim anywhere you like but if no lifeguard on duty then it's at your own risk.

Ligence · Post by **Ligence** » Sat Jul 26, 2014 11:01 pm

Do keep in mind that there's currently a blue-green algae ("sinilevä", although it's not algae actually) bloom going on, and it can be toxic. If you do swim, shower well afterwards.

Upphew · Post by **Upphew** » Sun Jul 27, 2014 9:55 am

Ligence wrote:Do keep in mind that there's currently a blue-green algae ("sinilevä", although it's not algae actually) bloom going on, and it can be toxic. If you do swim, shower well afterwards.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanobacteria

network_engineer · Post by **network_engineer** » Mon Jul 28, 2014 1:40 pm

Hi all,

In reality, how high is the risk in Finland from Cyanobacteria? Particularly, the species of cyanobacteria producing toxins such as BMAA? There is ongoing research that points to a relationship between species of cyanobacteria producing toxins such as BMAA and motor neuron diseases.

Avoid the beaches here? Avoid the lakes? Surprisingly, the algae level seemed to quite high, in the waters near Vuosaari.

This publication talks about the risks of the bacteria itself.

Upphew · Post by **Upphew** » Mon Jul 28, 2014 8:42 pm

network_engineer wrote:Hi all,

In reality, how high is the risk in Finland from Cyanobacteria? Particularly, the species of cyanobacteria producing toxins such as BMAA? There is ongoing research that points to a relationship between species of cyanobacteria producing toxins such as BMAA and motor neuron diseases.

Avoid the beaches here? Avoid the lakes? Surprisingly, the algae level seemed to quite high, in the waters near Vuosaari.

This publication talks about the risks of the bacteria itself.

http://www.hel.fi/www/helsinki/en/cultu ... ng/quality

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