Laholm Bay () is a bay of the

Kattegat The Kattegat (; ; ) is a sea area bounded by the peninsula of Jutland in the west, the Danish straits islands of Denmark and the Baltic Sea to the south and the Swedish provinces of Bohuslän, Västergötland, Halland and Scania in Swede ...

, between

Tylösand Tylösand is an area and former locality situated in Halmstad Municipality, Halland County, Sweden, with 399 inhabitants in 2010. It is located 7 km west of Halmstad, on Tyludden. Tylösand is famous for its 7 km long sand beach, its go ...

in the north and

Hovs Hallar Hovs Hallar () is a nature reserve at the northern tip of the Bjäre Peninsula in the county of Skåne, Sweden. It is located approximately northeast of the coastal town of Torekov. The reserve is an area of geological interest and its impr ...

in the south. The Bjäre Peninsula, which forms its southern edge, separates it from

Skälder Bay Skälder Bay () is a bay in Skåne County, Sweden. It is an inlet of the Kattegat on the western coast of Scania, located between the Bjäre Peninsula to the north (which separates it from Laholm Bay) and the Kullen Peninsula to the south (which ...

. The border between

Halland Halland () is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap''), on the western coast of Götaland, southern Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Småland, Skåne, Scania and the sea of Kattegat. Until 1645 and the Second Treaty of Br ...

and

Skåne Scania ( ), also known by its native name of Skåne (), is the southernmost of the historical provinces of Sweden, provinces () of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous w ...

counties reaches the bay between

Båstad Båstad () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Båstad Municipality, Scania County, Sweden, with approximately 5,000 permanent residents. It is however one of Sweden's most typical summer resorts. The population is presumably mor ...

and Hemmeslövstrand. The bay is shallow with an average depth of about and a shoreline of about . Mighty dunes separate the beach from the rest of the coastal area. In the greater part of the bay, the bottom consists of sand and clay, with depths of . But a wide strip of rocky bottom, with depths of , extends south-southwestward from the northeastern part of the bay to Hovs Hallar. Along Laholm Bay are several seaside resorts:

, Hemmeslövsstrand, Eskilstorpsstrand,

Skummeslövsstrand Skummeslövsstrand is a locality situated in Laholm Municipality, Halland County, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norw ...

, and

Mellbystrand Mellbystrand is a locality situated in Laholm Municipality, Halland County, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to ...

, among others. The bay, on the other hand, is named after the Town of

Laholm Laholm () is a town and the seat of Laholm Municipality, Halland County, Sweden, with 6,527 inhabitants in 2015. Laholm is, despite its small population, for historical reasons often still referred to as a ''city''. In the 13th century, Laholm w ...

, located about inland. The long sandy beach was used in the past as a country road, with bus traffic to Båstad already in the 1930s. Laholm Bay suffers from

eutrophication Eutrophication is a general term describing a process in which nutrients accumulate in a body of water, resulting in an increased growth of organisms that may deplete the oxygen in the water; ie. the process of too many plants growing on the s ...

and related

algal bloom An algal bloom or algae bloom is a rapid increase or accumulation in the population of algae in fresh water or marine water systems. It is often recognized by the discoloration in the water from the algae's pigments. The term ''algae'' encompass ...

s. Since the 1970s, oxygen deficiency has been observed in groundwater. The cause of the environmental issues is thought to be too much nutrients (mainly

nitrogen Nitrogen is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a Nonmetal (chemistry), nonmetal and the lightest member of pnictogen, group 15 of the periodic table, often called the Pnictogen, pnictogens. ...

from agriculture, forests, and rivers) in relation to the shallow water depth. As of 2005, measures to reduce the supply of nitrogen have not yielded satisfactory results.

References

External links

Bays of Sweden Landforms of Halland County Landforms of Skåne County {{Sweden-geo-stub