21 November, 2024
Marina Port de Mallorca and Marina Palma Cuarentena recently welcomed eighteen Year 11 students from the Santa Magdalena Sofía School to their facilities to install traps that they had made in their biology classes, which will be used to analyse the evolution of the marine ecosystem in the Port of Palma.
The students immersed numerous traps in several strategic points of the two marinas in order to monitor the evolution of the local marine ecosystem throughout the academic year and ultimately collect the samples and analyse them in the lab, putting into practice the knowledge acquired in their biology studies.
After installing the traps, the students attended a talk at Marina Port de Mallorca given by Lluc from the Palma Aquarium Foundation, who talked about the problems faced by the different species inhabiting the Mediterranean and how the foundation works with these species to recover them and return them to their habitat.
During the talk, students learnt about the most common species of cetaceans, turtles and sharks in the Mediterranean, and the problems faced by each species.
In the case of turtles, there are three species that inhabit the Balearic Sea: the loggerhead turtle, the green turtle, and the leatherback turtle. Their main threats are ghost nets that drift through the sea and trap turtles by their limbs, causing serious injuries and even death, as well as the plastics they swallow, having mistaken them for food.
The students also found out what to do if they find an injured turtle, and how to handle it properly to avoid causing further harm. These include steps such as calling the emergency number 112, protecting the turtle from the sun, draping it in a wet towel without covering its head, not untangling it if trapped in nets or plastics to prevent any infection from spreading, and never turning it over on its shell. These simple steps can go a long way in helping a turtle survive.
For several years now, Marina Port de Mallorca has had a special box at reception for marina customers or users to place any injured turtles they find while sailing, after which the Palma Aquarium Foundations aid protocol is activated.
Whats more, the students learnt about the importance of protecting Posidonia, as it is the so called lung of the Mediterranean that supplies oxygen and absorbs much of the C02 generated by humans, in addition to protecting beaches and being the habitat of numerous species.
This partnership between Marina Port de Mallorca and Marina Palma Cuarentena and the Santa Magdalena Sofía School is part of the awareness-raising programme among young people so that they can contribute to a greener society and marine environment. This is particularly important for the Balearic Islands and so that everyone can continue enjoying the sea.
