In Flundreviken just north of Visby, Olle Håkansson shows off his old wooden boat which is laid out on a boat trailer. The bottom is partly covered by the sea tulip.
- They have been around at all times. As long as we have had boats, they have been growing on, he says.
The sea tulip builds shelterThe sea tulip is a small crustacean that settles on boat hulls, among other things. The Swedish Boat Union organization, which follows the spread of sea turtles, now informs that Gotland, Södermanland and Stockholm are areas where the larvae of the crustaceans have now begun to look for good places to attach themselves.
- Then they build a shell around them for protection. The shell then grows, but good much bigger than this they do not get, says Olle and pulls the nail over the centimeter-sized shells.
Many sea tulips on boat hulls can affect the resistance in the water and increase fuel consumption. So a certain environmental benefit you do if you keep the hull clean.
- If you sail, you should keep the boat clean or else you lose speed. Similarly if you drive long distances by motor boat you lose speed and have to increase the gas load and then it goes to more fuel, says Olle Håkansson, who does not, however, see too big problems with the small animals. He does not think that you need to pick up and clean the boat until the end of the season.
- If you only take short day trips out here, you will earn nothing from it, he says.