Extinction is threatening to one of the most recognizable species of the Mediterranean, the noble pen shell (Pinna nobilis), and we have witnessed a new mass mortality event (MME) in some parts of the Adriatic coast. The noble pen shell is endemic and the largest shellfish of the Mediterranean. It can grow to 120 cm in height. It is spread all over the Adriatic on sediment bottoms of shallow coastal areas, and has many local names. The ecological role of this species is of utmost importance because it filters and retains large amounts of organic matter from suspended detritus which contributes to increasing the transparency of sea water. In addition, it provides numerous algae, sponges, polychaets, bryzooans and other invertebrates with a hard substrate for colonization in soft bottom areas. Therefore, on the pen shell we often see a high biodiversity of organisms. It is sensitive to extreme pollution, many...
"Ne KLIMAjte palasturu!" is an educational and research project of the 20000 Leagues Society aimed at getting the public acquainted with the manifestations of climate change in the sea and researching a strictly protected species - the noble pen shell - threatened to extinct potentially due to climate change. As part of the educational activities of the project, we visited elementary school students at Elafiti. To them we have transferred our knowledge and love of the sea. We talked to them about climate change: Do they even know what they are? How can they be seen and felt? And how does the marine environment respond to it; animals, plants and algae that live in it? About the problem of coral bleaching, students learned through a story from a perspective of a coral called Kora, whose algae friends have left because they do not like the hot and acid sea. The...
International Conference: Adriatic Biodiversity Protection – AdriBioPro2019 was organized from April 7-10, 2019 in Kotor, by the University of Montenegro, the Institute of Marine Biology. We participated at the conference with three oral presentations. Kora presented the underwater biodiversity of Silba reefs. Data for that research was collected on a field trip last fall under project by BIUS - Biology Student Association and 20000 Leagues Society. Kora pointed out the use of non-invasive methods and importance of young scientists being trained for basic marine biology research - habitat maping and inventarization. Hrvoje presented the first results review of the extensive exploration of shallow infralittoral communities of necto-benthic fish in the Adriatic, including the populations in Montenegro using only "bubble free" diving without noise, in complete silence with the rebreather. The results have shown that, beside using that extravagant, but effective, diving set up for research, our fish communities are in...
We participated in FishForum! - the first joint conference of all stakeholders on fisheries in the Mediterranean and Black Sea, organized by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) in Rome under motto "Bringing Science, Seas and People together" As part of the conference we have also presented our research on the wrecks "Vis" at Kamenjak, Istria and "Ledenik" at Sestrunja Island as a potential for preserving the fish community, encouraging diving tourism, but also additional value for small coastal fishing.
At the annual General Assembly of members of MedPAN (network of managers of marine protected areas in the Med), the Society 20000 Leagues was accepted as the official partner of this organization. The General Assembly was held as part of a knowledge exchange workshop in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, on the subject of small coastal fishing which we were unfortunately unable to attend. Happy news has come to us from our partners! http://medpan.org/about/medpan/members-and-partners/#M This may be our vote that brought us the partnership :) (Photo: MedPAN-network)
Marine Explorers Society 20.000 leagues gathers ambitious, comprehensive and creative researchers whose primary interest is marine biology. Members of the Society have wide and professional experience in organizing and carrying out various projects.
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