Herring Day
8 August 2024
Seili
Welcome to the Archipelago Research Institute in Seili to meet the Baltic herring!
Herring is a key species in the Baltic Sea ecosystem. Along these Northern shores it has also fed the development of human cultures. Baltic herring has fueled maritime travel and cultural exchange already for thousands of years. Thanks to herring the coastal communities survived even the hunger years. These days, however, the environmental changes caused by human activities are severely affecting the herring population. Industrial waste has blinded the herring and now their hearing seems to be suffering. The herring in the Archipelago Sea is growing ever thinner as it adapts to the impacts of climate change.
Herring is truly a political animal, our companion species in the natural-cultural history of the Baltic Sea region. Similarly our futures go fin in hand.
The Archipelago Research Institute has studied the transformations of the Baltic herring population and its maritime habitat since the 1980’s. The Herring Day presents this research to the public and guides the participants to view the Baltic Sea from the perspective of the herring.
The Herring Day is co-organised by Archipelago Research Institute (Turku University) and CAA Contemporary Art Archipelago in collaboration with Imagining Godzilla and John Nurminen Foundation. The event is part of a long-term collaboration between art and science in Seili, which is presented in the exhibition At The Edges of Knowledge this summer at the Archipelago Research Institute in celebration of its 60th anniversary. The exhibition and the public event are supported by the Arts Promotion Centre Finland.
The event is open for public and free, no prior booking needed. The event is both in Finnish and English. More information available in the beginning of August.
Programme
12.30-13.00 60 Years of Research on the Changing Sea: guided tour of the Archipelago Research Institute
13.00-14.00 What’s up Herring?: how to read the otoliths (hearing bones) of herring and the food web of the sea, guided by biologist Katja Mäkinen at the Seawater Laboratory.
14.00-15.00 Below the Surface: view the seashore through water binoculars, snorkeling, swimming or floating, guided by biologists
15.00-15.30 Music performance organized by Imagining Godzilla and guests
15.30-16.00 At the Edges of Knowledge: exhibition tour with the curator Taru Elfving
16.00-16.30 60 Years of Research on the Changing Sea: guided tour of the Archipelago Research Institute
Transport to Seili
M/S Norrskär
Turku-Seili 9.30 – 11.15
Seili-Turku 16.30 – 18.15
M/S Östern
Nauvo-Seili 12.10 – 12.40
Seili-Nauvo 17.25 – 17.55
More information and bookings of transport:
https://www.visitseili.fi/en/connecting-vessels/