Palma, Jul 7 (EFE) .
According to the Carlit methodology, which is one of the biological indices used to determine the status of coastal water masses, it indicates that in the years 2006 and 2009 all the water masses of the Balearic Islands had a very high or good environmental status.
In 2006, 94% of the water masses maintained a very good quality and only the remaining 6% was poor, according to the Mar Balear 2022 report.
In 2009, 92% of the water masses of the Balearic Islands had a very good quality. On the other hand, in the years 2020 and 2021 the percentage of water masses with very good quality was 57% and that of water masses with good quality was 31.4%.
Furthermore, in Majorca three bodies of water were found in the bay of Palma and in the bay of Alcúdia with a moderate ecological status (8.6%), while in the Pitiusas the ecological status continues to be very good along its entire coast.
SEA TURTLES
In the last 5 years, a total of six sea turtle (Caretta caretta) nests have been found on the Balearic coast. In June of this year, a sea turtle nest was located for the first time on a beach in Mallorca.
In 2019, two sea turtle nests were located for the first time on the beaches of the Balearic Islands, all in Ibiza, in 2020 three were located: two in Menorca and one in Ibiza.
The following two years no nest was located, although nesting attempts were recorded in Formentera, which ultimately did not end with laying.
Between the years 1993 and 2022, a total of 1,206 stranded sea turtles have been located, 597 alive and 609 dead.
The main cause of stranding between 2015 and 2022 has been entanglement in plastic or ghost fishing gear.
A total of 144 turtles have been recovered and returned to the sea between the years 2015 and 2022.
sperm whales
The Tursiops Association studies the presence of sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) in the Balearic Sea, and in 2022 detected the area with the highest density of groups of sperm whales with young in the Balearic Sea in the north of Menorca, however, it is outside the area of protection.
CORALS AND GORGONIAS
Dozens of species of corals and gorgonians are in a vulnerable state, although not all of them are protected by regulations. For example, the threatened species of Cladocora caespitosa, the only reef-building coral in the Mediterranean, shows the greatest coverage on Formentera, and on Menorca it has a wide presence around the island.
The red gorgonian (Paramuricea clavata) is one of the most threatened by climate change, and its shallower populations in Ibiza and Cabrera are being greatly affected.
The Balearic Sea Report is a collaborative project in which all the marine research institutions of the Balearic Islands participate together with public and private entities.