The IEO-CSIC provides the scientific basis for the creation of new marine protected areas.

PalmThe Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO, CSIC) welcomes the publication of Order TED/1085/2025, of 29 September, by which the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge approves the proposal for the inclusion of five new marine areas in the list of Sites of Importance 00 plus a Special Protection Area for Birds (ZEPA) in Spanish marine waters.

This expansion – which incorporates almost 1.7 million additional hectares – raises the protected marine area in Spain to 22.45%, which is close to the target of 30% by 2030 committed by Spain in the European Union's Biodiversity Strategy. This breakthrough is part of the significant effort the IEO has developed within the framework of the Intemares project, with more than twenty oceanographic campaigns, hundreds of days of work at sea, and the direct involvement of dozens of scientific and technical personnel, whose work has provided the scientific information necessary to support this new proposal to the European Commission.

Three key areas for marine biodiversity

In the seamounts of the Mallorca Channel, located east of the Pitiusas and south of Mallorca, the IEO has documented a set of mountains and escarpments – Olivas, Ausiàs March and Emile Baudot – that descend from 80 to 2,700 meters deep. In this enclave, habitats of great diversity and uniqueness have been identified, formed by calcareous red algae found at the greatest depths known in the western Mediterranean. These communities are combined with sponge beds and bamboo coral forests (Isidella elongata), as well as with cold water coral reefs (Dendrophyllia cornigera, Madrepora oculata).

The area also has stable populations of cetaceans, such as the striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba), the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiopes truncatus) and the sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus), in addition to the loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta), a priority species in the European Union for which the Mallorca Channel constitutes one of the main distribution areas in the western Mediterranean.

The Pockmarks Field, off the coast of Murcia and southeast of Alicante, covers depths between 70 and 1,600 meters and includes a seamount, an extensive field of pockmarks (structures generated by ancient fluid emissions) and several other. IEO research here has described some of the best-preserved deep-sea ecosystems in the Mediterranean, with reefs made up of gorgonians, corals and structuring sponge communities that support high biodiversity.

The surrounding muddy bottoms are home to sensitive marine ecosystems dominated by bamboo coral, sea pens and other vulnerable species. This biological richness is also reflected in the presence of resident and migratory cetaceans such as dolphins and sperm whales, and in the high abundance of deep-sea sharks and rays, which have led to its designation by the IUCN as an Important Area for Sharks and Rays.

The Capbretó Tributary Canyon System, in the eastern sector of the Cantabrian margin, represents one of the most unique submarine canyon systems in the European Atlantic. Formed by a large main canyon – the Capbretó Canyon – and various branches that descend from the continental shelf to a depth of 2,000 meters, it is home to reef habitats and structures associated with fluid emission.

Explorations carried out by scientists have allowed hard coral reefs to be mapped (Dendrophyllia cornigera) and sponge communities, especially of the genus Phakellia, along with a high diversity of invertebrates that give the area a high ecological value. The margins of the canyon are covered by active pockmark fields, habitat of the orange roughy fish (Hoplostethus atlanticus) and dense colonies of crayfish (Nephrops norvegicus), which makes this enclave an important reservoir of biodiversity and fishing resources.