Ships sailing through trees? What?

The other day I went on a trip to Husum with my sister and her family. While walking along the sea, we saw the weirdest thing: Birch trees growing in the middle of the water! From their positions it was clear that they were some kind of marker for the waterway, but it looked very strange. But google suggests that this kind of marker is very common in wadden seas, where the water is too shallow for traditional buoys.

“Pricke” – birch trees serving as markers for the water way

When coming from the sea, you’ll see the birch trees on the port side of the waterway, and on the starboard side there will be poles with branches which are tied together on the very top of the pole, branching out below. Apparently this is called “Pricke” in german. You live and learn! :-)