Marine Biology

Sometimes we can forget about the existence of another world just below the water surface but, as son as we begin to observe it, we are immediately fascinated. If we consider that the marine ecosystem hosts the highest biodiversity on the planet then it's really worth exploring and knowing it better. Nowadays the study of the underwater world has become a priority. Our growing need to tap into the resources of the sea has led, in the last century, to a progressive deterioration of this delicate ecosystem with consequent impoverishment of marine biodiversity. It is therefore in our interest to protect the Ocean and its inhabitants, in order to continue to benefit of the extraordinary resources that they offer us.

Given these premises, we can explore the Ocean life considering it divided into 3 main categories:

1. Benthos: Organisms that live in contact with the substrate.

2. Necton: Organisms that actively swim in the water column.

3. Plancton: Organisms that live in the water column carried by currents.

In the seas that have not been altered by the human's action (incresingly rare), the organisms of these macrocategories naturally live in what is called BIOLOGICAL BALANCE. In a Biological Balance, the largest and most voracious organisms are present in a much smaller number compared to the smaller ones that are constantly subject to destruction but that reproduce themeselves in billions of individuals every day.

The action of humans, above all the overexploitation of fish resources and the use of fishing methods that destroy large area of the seabed, lead to an alteration of the Biological Balance with consequent loss of marine biodiversity. With the awareness that the seas of the world will continue to be exploited for human beings, it is opportune to study less impactful methods of exploitation, in order to avoid the loss of biodiversity as much as possible and the risk that in the future will remain a lifeless ocean.

The Marine Biologists of Fuerteventura Ocean Academy will guide you to the exploration of this delicated, as important ecosystem through a Naturalistic Snorkeling experience, accessible to all.

Some of the most representative species of the Canarian archipelago:

CANARIAN LOBSTER SPIDER CRAB DORID NUDIBRANCH

Scyllarides latus Stenohrynchus lanceolatus Hypselodoris picta

LEOPARD EEL SEAHORSE GUINEAN PUFFER