Summary
The species diversity was high in the Skagerrak and Kattegat areas during the November cruise. The largest number of species were found at Släggö in the Skagerrak. Diatoms were especially species rich amongst which Pseudo-nitzschia was found to have the highest cell numbers. Dinoflagellates and other species were also abundant, and the naked stage of Dictyocha was present in low cell numbers at all of the stations in the Skagerrak and Kattegat areas. The integrated chlorophyll concentrations (0-20m) were above what is normal for this month at Fladen and N14 in the Kattegat, as well as at Å17 in the Skagerrak. In the Baltic Sea the situation was quite different, showing a typical winter stage among the phytoplankton, meaning small species of different kinds in low cell numbers. Only BY38 was slightly different with a rather high abundance of the diatom genus Coscinodiscus. The chlorophyll concentrations were low, which is normal for this month.