Over Intensive Aquaculture or Sustainable Development?

The local communities and authorities in the region of Astakos – Echinades – Mitikas – Kastos – Kalamos in Etoloakarnania, western Greece, are claiming the obvious: to halt the increasingly intense degradation occurring in the waters of their region, as well as to restore the environmental destruction that has already been caused.  Archipelagos Institute of

Coralligenous Habitats – Protecting the Secret of the Aegean

In the deep waters of the Mediterranean, in particular the Aegean Sea, there is a secret world we risk losing before we even discover it. The Coralligenous Habitats of the Mediterranean, found at a depth of 70-250 meters, are some of the most complex and rich marine ecosystems in the Mediterranean. At the same time,

The rebirth of nature during the spring is intense in the sea

While at the Archipelagos Institute we monitor on a daily basis the changes in the marine ecosystems, due to the limited fishing and overall limited presence of humans at seas because of the pandemic, the images we record impress us, even if we know they will not last long… In the picture you can see

Sea Diamond – An Abandoned Toxic Waste for 14 years on the seafloor of Santorini

Fourteen years after the Sea Diamond sunk taking with it 3 human lives and after it was abandoned on the sea floor of Santorini, it continues to corrode and release dangerous toxic substances in the marine ecosystems. Archipelagos Institute of Marine Conservation has been on the side of the local community since the first day

Mapping of Posidonia seagrass meadows and coastal habitats using kayaks

Despite the difficult conditions, at the Archipelago Institute we adapt our actions to protect the biodiversity of our seas according to the restrictions. Researchers in the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) team of the Archipelago Institute, continue to map the Posidonia seagrass meadows and the coastal habitats using kayaks. In collaboration with the British University of

Planting the underwater gardens of the Aegean

An important stage in replanting Posidonia seagrass meadows was completed by Archipelagos Institute of Marine Conservation on the island of Lipsi, Greece, just before the new restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic were put in place. Over the years we have become used to hearing about the increasing rate with which animals and plants are

Archipelagos Institute at the MetroSea online conference

At the MetroSea online conference “International Workshop on Metrology for the Sea” (http://www.metrosea.org/), Archipelagos Institute of Marine Conservation in collaboration with the University of Bari, Italy, presented part of its research on the distribution of Sperm whales and Cuvier's beaked whales in region of the Ikarian Trench. With depth exceeding 1100 meters this marine region

Jellyfish Blooms – Help Us Record Them

The Citizen Science Observatory of Archipelagos Institute contributes to the monitoring of jellyfish blooms in Greece, proving once more how invaluable citizen science is as a source of information on the biodiversity of and the threats faced by our seas. We all can, and must, join forces, collaborate and exchange information so that we can

The first record in Greece of a new alien fish species

The first record in Greece of the alien fish species Cheilodipterus novemstriatus was made a few days ago in Rhodes by a member of the Archipelagos’ Citizen- Science Observatory. Cheilodipterus novemstriatus is a fish of Indo-Pacific origin that has progressively invaded the Mediterranean Sea via the Suez Canal as a Lessepsian immigrant. The species was

Archipelagos GIS team

Archipelagos GIS team is mapping Posidonia oceanica seagrass meadows in several areas of the SE Aegean. Archipelagos Institute in cooperation with the University of West of England Bristol during recent years developed a technique to map Posidonia oceanica seagrass. Data is collected with the use of kayaks that are equipped with sonar that can detect