Oceana concludes the 2012 Expedition “Exploring the Deep Sea” with more than 100 hours recorded of the marine elevation El Seco de los Olivos (Almeria).

Thanks to the use of an underwater robot, images of the seabed have been captured for three years, a material that is part of the European LIFE+ INDEMARES project and that will help when it comes to extending the Natura 2000 Network to marine areas such as this one, one of the areas with the greatest ecological value in Spain.

Thanks to this graphic material, protected fauna and flora have been discovered, such as the carnivorous sponge, white corals or the pig shark. Likewise, the recordings have allowed the researchers to learn about the constant deterioration of this elevation due to its proximity to the Almeria coast.

The LIFE+ INDEMARES project, co-financed by the European Commission at 50% and coordinated by the Biodiversity Foundation, aims to contribute to the protection and sustainable use of biodiversity in Spanish seas by identifying areas of value for the Natura 2000 Network, so all the information obtained will be analysed next year to form part of the process of designating Sites of Community Importance of the Natura Network 2000 navy in Spain.