Have you heard of the iconic Slovenian Lake Bled?
Although Lake Bled is a very small Alpine lake (1,5 km2) it is a national icon and the most important Slovenian lake for tourism. Celebrated for its stunning island, Lake Bled has seen rising environmental pressures from tourism and shoreline development.
Lake Bled. (Photo: Anja Bubik)
Activities like tourism, old infrastructure and fish feeding, add to nutrient pollution, fueling potentially harmful cyanobacterial bloom. These blooms can disrupt the lake’s delicate ecosystem, turning the seemingly pristine lake water putrid brown or red. Lake Bled is the only lake in Slovenia which occasionally turns into scarlet color, all other Slovenian lakes and accumulations with cyanobacterial bloom are more greenish in color (www.ciano.si).
A dense scarlet bloom of the potentially toxic cyanobacteria Planktothrix rubescens on the lake surface. (Photo: Tina Eleršek)
To tackle these challenges, the DiMark project will study different Alpine lakes and create advanced visualization tool and model for early warning system. While being the smallest key lake in DiMark, Lake Bled is on the limit for satellite observation, but anyway, by integrating traditional techniques with satellite observations, DiMark will try to predict and mitigate the impacts of eutrophication on Lake Bled and to protect its ecological well-being for future generations.
Stay tuned for our next post, where we’ll introduce another DiMark partner and their important role in protecting Alpine lakes!
