World Oceans Day 2024

World Oceans Day 2024

Protecting Posidonia

Formentera, Balearic Islands. On World Oceans Day, Paul & Shark launches the 'Protecting Posidonia' project, in collaboration with Vellmarí, a local association that has been studying and protecting marine ecosystems for over 30 years.

Together with content creator Daniel Illescas, underwater photography world champion Rafael Fernández Caballero, underwater videomaker and documentary filmmaker Marco Spinelli and Andrea Spinelli, a marine biologist at the Valencia Oceanographic Institute, we have dived into the crystal-clear waters of Formentera for a special mission.

The founder of Vellmarí, Manu San Félix, a National Geographic photographer, with whom we share the mission of protecting and preserving the ocean, showed us the centre where seeds, shoots and plants are stored, waiting to be replanted in their natural habitat.

We then set off to the site where the first transplanting took place last year. Once we reached the marine reserve, we dived in to take a closer look at this marvelous aquatic plant that plays the fundamental role in the constant oxygenation of the marine ecosystem, earning it the title of the ‘Green Lung of the Mediterranean’.

‘It is very easy to destroy, while it is very difficult to recover. So, the most important thing is to protect’. Manu San Félix

Founded in 1993 on the island of Formentera, the Vellmarí Association is a diving centre with a clear vocation for marine conservation and research in the Mediterranean, making it the perfect partner for Paul & Shark, for whom the environment and the sea have always been treasures to be preserved.

The synergy between the two will continue after World Oceans Day with an important activity for the conservation and restoration of Posidonia. The collaboration will see Paul & Shark and Vellamarí involved in the cultivation and planting of 700 new specimens of Posidonia, a key aquatic plant for the island.