Marine environment under pressure

MASSIFICATION is literally leaving its mark on the seabed, according to environmentalists Ecologistas en Accion.
The association’s sailing boat, Diosa Maat, visited the Marina Alta in mid-August when the coast was under “strong pressure” from pleasure craft, the ecologists said.
The Diosa Maat’s crew inspected Cabo de San Antonio and Javea’s Cala de Sardinera beach, in collaboration with volunteer divers who helped to clean the seabed and assess the impact of moored boats on underwater meadows of Posidonia Oceanica seaweed.
“We have seen boatowners arguing over moorings at the environmental buoys where they are now supposed to moor,” the association told the Spanish media.
“Anchors are also damaging the seabed,” they declared.  “Launches were exceeding speed limits and we saw jet-skis invading restricted zones and areas that are reserved for swimmers.”
The same overcrowding on the surface was having an adverse effect on the seabed where submerged rubbish abounded, including chains and anchors as well as plastics, a spokesperson revealed.
The crew were allegedly insulted by boatowners who had little awareness of the need to respect the sea and marine wildlife, and were irrigated by the presence of Ecologistas en Accion, the association said afterwards.