A R G U S AnchorTag - environment and the maritime world

A R G U S AnchorTag enhances anchoring safety by providing real-time monitoring, helping to prevent anchor dragging—a major cause of seabed destruction. When an anchor drags, it can rip up fragile marine ecosystems, including coral reefs and seagrass beds, which take years to regenerate.

PROTECT THE POSIDONIA

Although its appearance and its location at the bottom of the sea could make us think that it is an algae, the Posidonia oceanica is a superior plant and probably the most important plant in the marine ecosystem of the Pitiusas.

Posidonia meadows are an endemic species of the Mediterranean Sea that is not present in any other sea in the world. We can find it between the superficial level up to 30-40 meters deep depending on the transparency of the waters, occupying large areas on the Mediterranean coast. It is an endemic species of the Mediterranean and, since 1999, specifically, the meadow of the Natural Park of the Salinas de Ibiza and Formentera was declared a World Heritage Site.

Unlike algae, it has leaves, stem and roots, as well as producing flowers and fruits. It grows both on rocky bottoms and on mobile bottoms, that is, sandy bottoms, while samoto algae grow on hard or rocky bottoms.

This plant plays an important role in sedimentary dynamics, since it keeps the sediment immobile with its roots and creates important areas of oxygen production, breeding and refuge for many animal species. It is estimated that more than 400 plant and 1,000 animal species inhabit posidonia meadows. On the other hand, the meadows function as large filter feeders, helping to keep the sea water clean and transparent. Likewise, the posidonia berms in the sand prevent the erosion of the beaches.

An essential marine plant

One of the most outstanding characteristics of this plant is that it is attached to the substrate through rhizomes capable of extending several kilometers, producing millions of plants from the same clone. Posidonia specimens separated more than 15 kilometers have been found that came from the same plant, which has led scientists to estimate the age of this plant at 100,000 years, being the longest living being on the planet.

The posidonia oceanica is a plant very sensitive to pollution, which is why it is considered a good bioindicator of water quality. The increase in pollution on the coastline has caused a considerable reduction in grasslands, despite the fact that with the construction of treatment plants and quality control systems it seems that this decrease is stabilizing.

This plant, so essential for maintaining the biodiversity of the Mediterranean Sea, is cataloged by CITES and included in the List of Wild Species under the Special Protection Regime in the Mediterranean.

The Balearic Islands have an area of ??55,795 hectares of Posidonia meadow, of which 7,650 hectares correspond to the waters of Formentera. This translates into 76.5 million square meters to protect only in Formentera.

A R G U S ANCHORTAG & POSIDONIA

This plant plays an important role in sedimentary dynamics, since they keep the sediment immobile with its roots and create important areas for the production of oxygen, breeding and refuge for many animal species. Its presence allows many marine species to make their home in the waters of Formentera.

It is estimated that more than 400 plant and 1,000 animal species inhabit posidonia meadows. On the other hand, the meadows function as large filter feeders, helping to keep the sea water clean and transparent. Likewise, the posidonia berms in the sand prevent the erosion of the beaches.

Recent studies have shown that, the anthropic impact caused by boats of different lengths on the seagrass meadows, has caused a drastic reduction of up to 44% of the oceanic seagrass meadows in the north of Formentera, which represents an extension of 0.59 km2, mainly due to the fall and hoisting of the anchor, as well as the effect of the plow that causes the dragging of these boats and the erosive effect of the chain as a consequence of the borneo. This fact mainly affects seabirds, indirectly, by causing damage to benthic communities, especially the Mediterranean shag, due to its coastal and diving nature, and because of its connection with posidonia meadows.

It is vitally important to make tourism, and especially nautical tourism, aware of the importance of conserving this ecosystem of great biological diversity.

Offer information about the marine area of ??Formentera and Ibiza and the need to guarantee the proper management of this area and the favorable conservation of the seabirds that justify their incorporation into the Natura 2000 Network, such as the Mediterranean gray shearwater, the Balearic shearwater, the Mediterranean shag and Audouin's gull, among others. What defines this habitat as of great ecological interest that, among other aspects, is essential for the feeding of certain seabirds, both native and migratory of regular presence.

Jacques-Yves Cousteau, the famous explorer of the sea, said a few decades ago: "We have turned water and air, the two essential fluids on which life depends, into global landfills." It helped to publicize the environmental problems of the oceans and the need to protect them. However, since then in many respects the situation has only gotten worse. Especially in the Mediterranean, one of the most polluted and overexploited seas on the planet, subjected to constant and extreme stress.

This is confirmed by Manu San Félix, a marine biologist and National Geographic Explorer based in Formentera, who for three decades has seen with his own eyes and through his inseparable camera the deterioration of this sea that he loves so much. One of the Mediterranean species that San Félix knows best is the posidonia (Posidonia oceanánica), a very important plant for the proper functioning of the marine ecosystem: it is home to a multitude of organisms, contributes to the purification of waters, generates large amounts of oxygen on the seabed, it acts as a carbon sink, prevents coastal erosion and, in short, clearly indicates the existing level of environmental quality.

Researcher Carlos Duarte explains that if the temperature exceeds 28.5 ° C, posidonia mortality rates skyrocket. Unfortunately, since 2015 there have been long periods in which, at depths between 15 and 20 meters, the temperature does not drop below 29 ° C. For the posidonia communities, stressed by the moorings and the discharges of dirty water, these extremely high temperatures are the coup de grace. If we do not achieve the most optimistic scenario indicated in the Paris Agreement, Duarte insists, that is, that the temperature does not rise more than 1.5 ° C above the reference values, it will be difficult to maintain the posidonia cover in the future .

By alerting captains and crews before movement occurs, AnchorTag minimizes anchor-related damage, promoting responsible anchoring practices. This helps preserve marine habitats, protect biodiversity, and contribute to a more sustainable maritime world. 🌊⚓