West vs. East coast diving in Sweden

[Dawn]

How does the diving compare between the two? Depth, viz, wreck location and number, historical value of wrecks there, sealife.....???

The only thing I am slightly familiar with is diving off of Oland, and I was made aware recently that there is a big difference between Oland and Stockholm, but I am curious about east vs. west too.

Thanks in advance!
Dawn

[Tulle]

A quick answer is, in the westcoast it's more salt in the water than east, so the wrecks are not in so good condition as on the eastcoast.
But the sealife is the opposite, no life in the Baltic, but lots of life on the westcoast!
Balticsea is comparable with the great lakes in watercondition, but the lakes are deeper ;)

BR Anders

[Ingemar Lundgren]

Dawn, the west coast is Atlantic diving. I would guess pretty much similar to Atlantic diving on the north US coast. Some people prefer the west coast and some the Baltic sea. I personally think that the wreck diving in the Baltic is better then on the west coast. The wreck stay intact in the Baltic due to low salinity as Tulle said and lack of the "Terdo Navalis". Off shore the visibility in the Baltic can be just as good as on the west coast. Another advantage in the Baltic is the lack of tides and current which can be a real hassle not to a great extent on the west coast but more so in other areas such as England.
This picture illustrates what divers can expect to see in the Baltic sea. Photographer Erik Bjurström.

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[Richard Lundgren]

The reason why Baltic wrecks stays preserved is that its very little salt in the water hence no ship/wood worms. Skeppsmask, Teredo navalis (but also the spices Nototeredo norvegica and Psiloteredo megotaur), is a spineless worm feeding on wood.

This is why ships can stay virtually intact for many hundreds of years. Some is still amazingly intact after more than 500 years. A perfect example is Vasa shown in the pictures below. For more information and the origin of this pictures, pls visit:
www.vasamuseet.se (http://www.vasamuseet.se)

Foto: Stefan Evensen

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[Dawn]

Thank you for the info guys! I knew about the shipworm from reading through the articles on OD (as in their lack of presence in the Baltic is rather unique).

I do remember the Vasa Museum had a lot of info on this, as well, as you mentioned. I just have not read a lot on the west coast diving and was curious as to the conditions comparitively speaking.

Thanks again :)
Dawn