SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 14 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
A scientific team from the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO-CSIC) has carried out a research campaign whose objective has been to evaluate the environmental state of the seabed of the western Canary Islands between 100 and 1000 meters deep.
On board the Ramón Margalef oceanographic vessel, which docked this morning in the port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, scientists have traveled the islands of Tenerife, La Gomera, El Hierro and La Palma for 20 days and have acquired images and samples of the deep habitats in some areas unexplored to date.
A multidisciplinary scientific team made up of biologists and geologists from the oceanographic centers of the Canary Islands, Cádiz, Málaga and Vigo of the IEO has participated in the campaign.
In each area, first of all, a study of the geomorphology and composition of the bottom was carried out using acoustic methods that allowed obtaining very high resolution cartographies.
Once areas with potential for the presence of habitats of interest for conservation were identified, underwater vehicles were used to obtain images of the bottoms to subsequently carry out the taxonomic identification of the species and evaluate the pressures of anthropic origin to which said communities may be subjected, such as the presence of marine litter.
On the other hand, in the sedimentary bottoms, samples were obtained with box-corer type dredges to analyze the composition of the bottom and the presence of polluting substances and microplastics.
“The technical and logistical difficulties involved in the study of deep seabeds mean that, even today, many of the habitats present in them are unknown, the species that characterize them and their state of health; hence the importance of research activities such as the ones we have carried out during the CIRCAN 2023 campaign in the waters of the Canary Islands”, explains Carlos Hernández, IEO researcher and head of the campaign.
This expedition is part of the order carried out by the Ministry of Ecological Transition to the IEO to comply with the Marine Strategies, the marine environment planning instrument created under Directive 2008/56/CE, of June 17, 2008, by which establishes a community action framework for marine environment policy (Marine Strategy Framework Directive), and has as its main objective the achievement of the Good Environmental Status of our seas.
