Protect the Balearic Sea, in the hands of all

22 June, 2021

The data provided by the latest Mar Balear Report promoted by the Government of the Balearic Islands, the Marilles Foundation and the main scientific institutions of the Balearic Islands are already known. Thanks to this report, broken down by chapters, we have an overall vision of the health of the marine environment around us.
In addition to gathering a large number of ecological indicators, the report includes economic and social indicators that help us understand the state of the sea in the Balearic Islands.

Especially worrisome is the chapter on pressures that can be seen in full from this link and that tells us about the main problems of the Mediterranean in what concerns the islands: Treatment plants, desalination plants and waste on the seabed and in coastal waters.

The result of the report is clear. The Balearic coast is one of the largest areas of accumulation of plastics in the Mediterranean.
This is revealed by the presence of microplastics in marine sediments, in coastal waters and in animals.
To the point where, all the collected samples of different types contained some kind of plastic.

As indicated in the report, in 88% of the areas sampled with the trawl technique residues were detected. And nearly half (45%) of the sampled species contained microplastics. Unfortunately, we not only have to talk about microplastics but also, as the report makes clear, about macro-garbage: plastics that sink to the seabed and floating plastic debris.

INDEPENDENT OF THE TOURIST SEASON
Another important piece of information provided by the study is that the presence of microplastics is independent of the tourist season since most of the plastics obtained in the samples are of local origin.

It is in our power to work to reduce, recycle and reuse.
This is how we see it in Marineland Mallorca since 2019 with initiatives such as #noplasticsmarinelandmallorca and the cleaning of the coastline promoted from our park, an initiative that had the participation of volunteers, divers, fishing professionals and the Calviá City Council.
All united to help clean our sea.
Our commitment to change is firm. The future of marine life is in our hands.

More information:
https://www.informemarbalear.org/presiones/
https://mallorcaca.eu/informe-mar-balear/