As a result of the LIFE+ INDEMARES project, coordinated by the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment, it has been proposed to be declared a Site of Community Importance in the South of Almeria-Seco de los Olivos. Here, the presence of a carnivorous sponge (Asbestopluma hypogea) has been discovered for the first time in Spanish waters. This species is located in this biodiversity hotspot that is also an important migration corridor, as well as a feeding area for several species of large pelagics, such as tuna, sharks, turtles, whales and dolphins, making it an important enclave for the conservation of biodiversity.
 
The south of Almeria-Seco de los Olivos is a marine area with an area of 2,829 square kilometres located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, characterised by the great productivity of its waters and by containing a great diversity of species and marine habitats. El Seco, also known as the Chella bank, is located about 10 miles from the coast and is the most outstanding among all the underwater elevations located off this coast.
 
Due to the influence of water masses from the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, the complex morphology of the seabed and the meteorological conditions of the Strait of Gibraltar, masses of deep, cold and nutrient-rich waters emerge in the coastal area and around seamounts. These productive conditions and the availability of food that exists in the water column, means that there is a rich variety of communities and habitats and that whales, dolphins, turtles and seabirds arrive in this area. Also large slow-growing predators, such as sharks, are frequent in these waters.
 
It is an area where you can find everything from the zebra shark, a critically endangered species, to more than 600 species of different groups, such as molluscs, worms, polychaetes, corals, fish and urchins. In addition, more than 30 species of seabirds, 12 cetaceans and 4 sea turtles have been identified so far.
 
Posidonia oceanica meadows in shallow areas, gorgonian gardens, sponge fields, black coral forests, which can be more than 4,000 years old, bamboo corals, walls with giant oysters and cold-water white corals of the species Lophelia pertusa and Madrepora oculata carpet these seabeds. The three-dimensional structures they form are home to an infinite number of organisms that find in this habitat the ideal space in which to settle, feed, reproduce or shelter, considerably increasing biodiversity in these areas, which makes it a priority place for conservation.
 
The intense fishing activity, with high accidental catches of cetaceans and turtles in their gear, the high levels of pollutants, and maritime traffic are the most important threats facing the biodiversity of the south of Almeria-Seco de los Olivos.
 
With this proposal for a Site of Community Importance (SCI) at European level, an area of great ecological value is protected thanks to the results of the LIFE+ INDEMARES project.