The objective of this project is to collect information and identify areas that require protection.

The objective of this project is to collect information and identify areas that require protection. The seabed of the Mallorca Channel, between this island and Formentera and Ibiza, is still largely unknown and there are the seamounts Ses Olives, Ausias March and Emile Baudot, where ecosystems and marine communities that have disappeared or are in serious decline in other areas of the Mediterranean are preserved in good condition. such as sponge fields, gorgonian gardens, black corals or maërl and coralligenous bottoms, among others.

In the last four years, Oceana, in collaboration with the Biodiversity Foundation, has carried out research in these mountains that has demonstrated their importance, as more than 300 different species have been identified, including fish and a wide variety of invertebrates, figures that could increase significantly during the current campaign.

These elevations of the Balearic archipelago are some of the most prominent, relevant and biodiverse in the western Mediterranean, so their protection would mean the creation of the first marine protected area for the Mediterranean submerged mountains.

The actions to be carried out in this project are the following:

1. Study organization, strategy, methodology, etc.
2. Campaign to collect images using an underwater robot (ROV) and divers.
3. Preparation of a report of results and dissemination.