Which plants and animals can I experience from GLASKAJAK®?

Also known as the common jellyfish, the jellyfish is made up of 98% water, is transparent with bluish, purple, or pink rings, and eats plankton. They look absolutely magical as they float beneath your kayak. The moon jellyfish doesn't sting. 

The common jellyfish comprises 98% water, is transparent, and has bluish, purple, or pink "eyes" (the four rings in the middle of the jellyfish that are actually their genitalia). It eats plankton.
The common jellyfish are here... or they're not here. There is not much middle ground for them because they move around depending on the direction and amount of wind. However, we often have jellyfish in the fjord - and although you may be very skeptical of them because they can feel strange to swim into on your beach trip, you will find that they are extremely beautiful and magical in their peaceful movement through the water when you sit in a kayak.

The free-floating individuals we think of when we say "jellyfish" are in what is called the medusa stage. This is when they are sexually mature and can reproduce - and it is also their last life stage, which lasts just one year. In the summer, the females lay eggs that sit in a star shape on the underside. You can also experience this on the tours in GLASS KAYAK®. In the gallery, you can find pictures of female jellyfish with eggs.

"Fear not - it's not a lion's mane jellyfish!"
I often get called over during the kayak season by guests who are shocked by the sheer amount of - what they think is - the moon jellyfish's stingy, red cousin, the lion's mane jellyfish. We rarely see lion's mane jellyfish, so it is usually just the peaceful moon jelly they've spotted. The confusion arises because the rings on some moon jellyfish are reddish, while others are bluish. This is completely normal; in fact, this is how you can tell the difference between males and females: the whitish/bluish rings are on male jellyfish, while the reddish/purple rings are on female jellyfish.  Moon jellyfish do, in fact, have poisonous nettle cells on the threads along the edge of the bell (body), but these nettle cells, unlike the lion's mane's nettle cells, are not strong enough for humans to feel them or get hurt by them.

Estimated probability of seeing a common jellyfish if you look carefully on the tours in GLASS KAYAK®: 70%

Rib fins are a group of jellyfish with 8 iridescent swimming ribs along the sides. They are even more transparent than the moon jelly and can, therefore, be quite difficult to spot. Gives flashes of light in the evening. In the fjord, you can see gooseberry jelly (<2 cm), melon jelly (<15 cm), and American comb jelly.

The barrel jelly is larger and not quite as transparent as the moon jelly, which makes it easy to spot when it occasionally visits the fjord. It can grow up to 60 cm in diameter and is much more "firm" than its other cousins. The barrel jelly has a nice little blue skirt on the edge of the disc. It does not sting.

The sea anemones in the fjord are small (1-7 cm) with whitish tentacles. It can be tricky to spot them at first, but once you know what to look for, there are many! They grow on solid surfaces - typically at rocks on the bottom or areas with mussels.

The sea anemones in the fjord are small (1-7 cm in diameter) with white to semi-transparent tentacles. They grow on solid surfaces - you will typically be able to see them when you row over areas with a rocky bottom or the fjord's mussel banks (as pictured here on a blue mussel bank).
In the middle of sea anemones is the mouth (see bottom picture), where prey (small animals such as water fleas and animal and plant plankton) are transported down once the poison from the tentacles has paralyzed them. Fish and people cannot feel the poison of the small sea anemones, so you can continue to swim in the area.
The sea anemones are always here - but you have to look carefully for the right places because they are small and picky about their substrate. Most sea anemones are north of the bathing bridge.

Estimated probability of seeing the sea anemones if you look carefully at the tours in GLASS KAYAK®: 80%

You can see lots of blue mussels in the fjord. They especially live in large colonies/mussel banks. The blue mussels are almost the lungs of the fjord. They filter the water for tiny organisms, plankton, floating algae, etc. An adult blue mussel can filter up to 200 L of water/day!

There are lots of blue mussels for you to see on the tours in GLASS KAYAK® with VisionKayak. The mussels can be seen scattered around the bottom of the fjord, growing on stones and each other in small groups of a few individuals, but they are most abundant in the large mussel banks we row over on the tours. In fact, up to 12,000 individuals/m2 can potentially live in the huge banks.
Blue mussels filter small organisms, such as plankton, from the water. A decently sized blue mussel can filter up to 200 liters of water in a day, making them excellent "cleaning plants" for the fjord. That is why we are delighted with our many blue mussel banks!

Shore crabs can be seen darting over the fjord bottom or sitting in the eelgrass, waiting for a small, delicious snack to swim by. They are most active at night and do not like warm water. If the summer is particularly hot, the crabs migrate to deeper, colder water. The shore crab is omnivorous and will eat anything it can chew.

The common starfish is a frequent visitor in our part of the Limfjord, where the beautiful pink and purple stars adorn the bottom. However, they are some hungry little crabs, so you often find them on the mussel banks where they eat. Normally 25 cm, but can grow up to 40 cm.

At times, we have the common starfish in the fjord. Occasionally, we have so many that in certain areas, you would almost not be able to put a foot down without standing in starfish. It's like a whole army invading the fjord and eating all the blue mussels they can on their way. And suddenly, they are gone again. Typically, however, you can find smaller colonies scattered around the fjord on the tours, but it may require you to zig-zag a bit to find an area where there are starfish. Typically, you will find a location with 10-20-30-40-50 starfish of various sizes within a manageable area with a good mussel bank or something delicious to eat. The common starfish are usually purple and pink. The brightest starfish are from deeper water, while the dark ones belong in shallow water.

Starfish eat carrion and live animals. They are pleased to eat blue mussels - and we have quite a few in the Limfjord. The starfish have a fascinating way of eating the mussels: they use the suction cups on their arms to open the mussel shell just enough to push their stomachs out of the body and into the clam.

Starfish occasionally lose arms by severing an arm themselves. This typically happens if an enemy (e.g., a seagull or a sufficiently large beach crab) has a hold of the arm. It is better to lose an arm than it is to get eaten. Extraordinarily, the starfish can then regrow the lost limb - so if you see a starfish with four arms on the tour, don't worry: the fifth will grow back.

In the fjord, we have both the native Limfjord oysters (right), which are almost completely round and can be up to 15 cm in diameter, as well as the invasive Pacific oysters (left). The Pacific oyster becomes larger (up to 20 cm), grows quickly, and is more elongated.

In the Limfjord, we have the unique and famous Limfjord oysters, but we also have the invasive Pacific oysters, which are larger, fast-growing, and very competitive in our waters. Generally speaking, we don't have many oysters at our part of the fjord as they prefer a little more "flow" in the water, but you can easily find a few of both species here and there on the tours

The Limfjord oyster is almost completely round and typically has a frilled shell. In the picture here, we have collected one of each species, so you can see a Pacific oyster and a Limfjord oyster side by side; the small one on the right is the local Limfjord oyster (max 15 cm diameter), while the large one on the left is a Pacific oyster (up to 20 cm long).

Eelgrass is an underwater flowering plant - and our very best friend in the fjord! The eelgrass is crucial for the entire ecosystem, as this is where fish fry, shrimps, small fish, and other small animals live, hatches, and grows. At the edge of the eelgrass, you can typically spot schools of tiny fish glistening in the sunlight - ready to swim hastily into the safety of the eelgrass if a predator were to pass by.

Eel grass is an underwater flowering plant - our best friend in the fjord! The eelgrass is beautiful when it tickles the bottom of your GLASS KAYAK® and is home to almost all life in the fjord. Here, crabs, shrimps, and small fish can hide from larger predators - unfortunately, the shrimps and small fish are not entirely safe in the otherwise protective forest of eelgrass, for the crabs also like to hunt in here and take those who are too slow. The eelgrass is essential for new fish fry to hide and grow. At the edge of the eelgrass, you can typically spot shoals of tiny fish glistening in the sunlight - ready to quickly swim into the safety of the eel grass if a predator by.

Eel grass grows in healthy water environments, so the fact that we have a lot of eel grass here at Marienlyst Strand is a really, really good sign. The eelgrass depends on sunlight, and the less nutrient pollution there is in the water, the fewer floating algae there are, and the more eelgrass there is. The eelgrass absorbs CO2 and nutrients from the bottom and releases oxygen to the water - and in this way, the eel grass contributes to the health of the fjord and oxygenates the water so that we reduce the risk of oxygen depletion.

Contrary to popular belief, eelgrass is not seaweed but a flowering plant. They spread both through lateral shoots and by sexual reproduction, meaning that the eelgrass flowers and sets seeds, just as we know it from grasses on land. The flowers sit in a membrane on the back of the stems and are without petals, so they are not flowers as we know them. On the other hand, the seeds are easy for you to experience on the trips at the right time of the year because if you put your hand in the water and feel and look at the back of the stems, you can see the tiny seeds sitting offset in pairs along the stem.

We don't see the lugworm itself, as it lives buried in the sand in L-shaped tunnels under the sand, but we see its remains! The fun, worm-shaped piles are actually sand that the lugworm has eaten and sorted for organic matter that it can use and digest. The leftover grains of sand pass out the other end of the worm as it continues eating its way through the sand. The piles are only seen in areas with sand, so remember to look carefully at the bottom when you row over sandy areas.

You can also experience the incredibly beautiful, tiny opalescent nudibranchs in the fjord - but they are unique, rare guests, and they are also small and prefer to sit in the eelgrass, so you have to look carefully to spot them. If you are lucky enough to see one, it is in return a great experience, because they are SO beautiful with a deep red color and the chalky white tips on their appendages. The nudibranch has two sets of tentacles on its head. Grows up to 2 cm.

The common buzzards often take a parade above us on the tours in GLASS KAYAK®, where they either use the warm, upward air above the forest to soar in large circles high up or, at low altitude, rush out from the forest's tall trees, where at least one pair typically has their nest.
The colors and patterns of the common buzzard vary from bird to bird—from dark brown to completely light. We almost always hear buzzards with their loud, hoarse "bird of prey cry."

We can hear the rare and enormously beautiful kingfishers on almost every tour in GLASS KAYAK®. They have a loud, high-pitched cry that is almost like that of a dog's toy. We also see them often - but only if you quietly slide along the forest's edge without too much noise. The kingfisher is a timid bird, so it doesn't like it if you come roaring at full blast.

The kingfisher breeds in caves on slopes, and we are lucky enough to have forests on high clay slopes along our route, which are the perfect place for them to breed, live, and hunt. From here, they can raise their young, and at the same time, there are plenty of good meal options right outside their "front door"; the kingfisher likes to sit on low-hanging branches above the water, from where it spots and catches small fish. And we certainly have plenty of those!

The kingfishers are also extremely fast. If you pay attention (typically, we have been "alerted" by their chirps beforehand), you can see them as small, lightning-fast, ice-blue torpedoes hurtling through the air and into the next tree.

Grey herons are often seen at the water's edge or sitting in the trees once we get away from the beach where the tour starts. The grey herons prefer not to be disturbed, and they eat fish that are also quick to escape if there are too many people in the water. They typically stand completely still like statues, so you must look carefully to spot them.

On the tours, you can often see grey herons at the water's edge. They typically stand entirely still - almost like statues, so you must look carefully to spot them.
You can also spot the grey herons in the trees. On the tour, there is a particular spot with trees that seems to be a favorite spot for grey herons to sit.

The grey heron is a tall, slender bird about 1 meter in height. It is a beautiful and elegant bird with a wingspan of up to 2 meters; it is impressive when flying over us.

The grey heron eats fish of any size it can gape at. In Skive Fjord, it is particularly fond of the large stock of sea trout.

Trouts have three different life forms: brook trout, lake trout, and sea trout, the latter of which live in salt water and is the type that we see in the fjord. Only four km from our meeting place, the world's best trout river, Karup Å, flows into the Limfjord; therefore, there are plenty of trout in the fjord. They are fast (!!) and swim away when they hear us, so we rarely see more than the back wave of them or the occasional jump.

The oystercatcher is a beautiful wading bird easily recognizable with its black and white body and red/orange legs and beak. The beak is very long compared to the body. The oystercatcher eats worms and clams that it finds in shallow water, and this is also where you will often see them. The species is protected in Denmark and is a migratory bird. It is not uncommon for them to be over 25 years old!

The herring gull is a large, grey-backed gull with a length of up to approx. 60 cm and a wingspan of 130-158 cm. The herring gull has a slightly grim expression and can also be recognized by the red spot on the beak.

The black-headed gull is DK's most common gull species. It is smaller than the herring gull: length approx. 37 cm and wingspan approx. 93 cm. In winter, the "hood" disappears and is replaced by a dark ear spot.

The common gull is reminiscent of a small herring gull but has a milder facial expression. The head is rounder, and the beak is more slender and short. Unlike the herring gull, the common gull has no red spot on its beak.

You can find both stickleback, fifteen-spined stickleback, and other small fish of a few cm. They are well camouflaged to survive, but on sunny days, they can be seen glistening in the sun at the edge of the eelgrass.

Several different types of sea sponges live in the fjord. However, they can be difficult to identify precisely without a microscope. Here, it is a breadcrumb sponge.

There are also several types of green algae, such as the thin, eatable sea lettuce and, as pictured, the common green branched weed. Many species look alike.

There are also types of red algae in the fjord, although somewhat fewer species than green algae. Here, truffle seaweed grows on old blue mussels and sea sponges.

The common cockie grows up to 6 cm. One of the most common mussels in DK, The mussel lives buried, but you can see the empty shells on the bottom of the fjord.

The common periwinkle feeds on algae, which it scrapes off stones, mussels, etc. It can grow up to 3.5 cm and be seen in the eelgrass, on the bottom, and on rocks, eating the algae growing there by scarping it off with its tongue. Common periwinkle has gills.

The sand gaper can grow up to 15 cm long and lives buried in the fjord bottom in shallow water with its two-part breathing tube sticking out of the bottom. It uses the tube to suck in fresh water, with which it gets both oxygen and food (plankton).

If you're lucky, you'll spot the empty shells of the white piddock on the bottom. The mussel lives in holes that it drills into clay - and because the mussel grows while it is drilling, it cannot come out again. Like sand gaper, it has a two-piece breathing tube.

Up to 6 cm, typically smaller. The slipper snail was introduced to Denmark from North America and lives primarily in the North Sea and the western part of the Limfjord. The snail's house looks like a little hat and eats plankton.

The netted dog whelk lives in shallow, calm water and is common in all Danish waters but is particularly fond of the Danish fjords. This pygmy conch mainly feeds on carrion - e.g., dead fish, crabs, and clams, which it can smell from a great distance. In addition, it eats worms and other small animals.

The Baltic macoma/Baltic clam is a type of tellin that grows to 2-3 cm in size and can have the most beautiful pink color. It can also be white or yellowish. Like many other clams, it lives buried in the bottom, from which it filters water, but you may be lucky to spot empty shells scattered around the bottom of the fjord.

From your GLASS KAYAK® at the water's edge and on the beach before the tour, you can find sea sandwort, a small 5-25 cm tall herb with juicy leaves that tastes like cucumber. You can eat sea sandwort, but the fresh, new sprouts taste the best. When it flowers, the plant becomes woody. The sea sandwort blooms with white/yellow flowers.