In September, good weather conditions were expected for the study of the bottom of the Baltic Sea in the LIFE REEF project – from the port of Klaipeda with the sailboat “Brabander” and the accompanying flotilla – scientists went to study deep shoals and observed an unusual phenomenon of “sea snow”.       A team of ichthyologists with a fishing vessel from the port of Ventspils went to Baltic Sea to study ichthyofauna in the exclusive economic zone of Latvia. For the research, they used various methods - hydroacoustic surveys, trawling in fish concentration areas, a "Nordic coastal" type net with different mesh sizes was set at sea, which ensures the harvesting of fish of different sizes and species. The researchers also captured ichthyoplankton and filmed the seabed.
         
         
     
Chinese mitten-crab Eriocheir sinensis. During a walk along the coastline of the Baltic Sea, LIFE REEF team invites to observe nature biodiversity and report to the Manager of Invasive Species, if you meet the Chinese mitten-crab that is not representative species of Latvian Fauna.       The common shelduck is known also as the Saaremaa Duck. The male has an expressly mound above the base of the beak, the beak is brightly red, more than for females. Females are slightly smaller than males, the difference is well seen observing both sexes at the same time. The young birds can be distinguished from the adults by the unformed, mottled feathered dress and by the colour of the legs, the young’s have grey, while for adults they are filthy pink. The common shelducks feather dress should be described as un-mixable with another species, mainly white with highly segregated areas, a brown band around the chest, a black-greenish glossy neck and a headband and wings.
         
     

Fourhorn sculpin is benthic fish species that occurs both at sea and in freshwatr. It is a cold-water loving species and its natural range of distribution is mainly in the northern hemisphere in the coastal waters of North America, Greenland and Eurasia.

       Round goby is the largest species of sea gobies in Latvia. It is a fish living on the bottom with a clotted body shape and a relatively large head with open eyes.
         
         
     

A long-tailed duck is a great diving duck that can spend more time under water than above it. In spring you can often hear the voice of long-tailed ducks, which gives a special mood in quiet evenings. When they gather together, the whole sea seems to be singing. The long-tailed long-tailed track, which can be recorded as “ka-kau-lit” in Latvian, was used to give a name to this species.

      

Lumpfish is one of the most exuberant fish species found in small quantities throughout the Baltic Sea, also in the northern part of the Gulf of Riga. In Northern Europe it is used in small quantities and is fished for the production of eggs assimilated to caviar.