I live in Montpellier, which is 15km from the beach and the Mediterranean Sea.

🏖️The beaches here are long and thin stretches of sand. Some parts have dunes, and some parts are built-up with 60s style houses. Although, the Mediterranean mainly has a rocky-cliff coastline.

📜Mediterranean-Sea history & facts

This sea has a rich history dating back to hundreds of years BC (even thousands when you go back to Jericho). Different cultures around the sea could meet and learn from each other that gave rise to philosophers and scientists.

👉Facts
-The name, Mediterranean, comes from the Latin to mean ‘in the middle of the land’
-The sea is semi-enclosed, with only an opening to the Atlantic Ocean at The Strait of Gibraltar (it has a high salt level because of this)
-It is surrounded by 3 continents!
-This sea has the largest number of islands & archipelagos in the world
-The region holds 10% of the world’s biodiversity
-Between 20-30% of species are endemic – unique to this region
-Less than 1% of the Mediterranean is protected

🐠Sea life

-Home to more than 17,000 marine species
-Whales, dolphins, green turtles, monk seals, sharks, rays are some of the Mediterranean mammals
-The Posidonia meadows, kelp forests and bamboo coral are key plant species here. The Posidonia meadows are a habitat for more than 1,000 different sea creatures (and hundreds of plant species)
🚨But the sea is under threat with the increase of invasive species, overfishing, pollution, drought and dam construction. Its mammal population has fallen by over 40% in the last 50 years

🙌Sea protection is under way

-The Barcelona Convention was set-up to protect the Mediterranean Sea against pollution. Initially Implemented in 1976, amended in 1995 to include 7 protocols
-The WWF Mediterranean Marine Initiative (set up in 2011) coordinates conservation efforts in the area
-In Spain, the first 100m from the coastline is a protection zone, and a further 400m also has restrictions (Coastal Law of 1988)
-Cold-water coral protection in the western part of the Mediterranean (near Gibraltar) was committed to in 2023
-Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are growing – with 1000 partly protected MPAs (fully protected areas are growing less fast)
-To improve the protected areas and increase its reach, Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy (PBOL) Project was set up in 2022
-Numerous beach clean-up initiatives are on the go all around the Mediterranean…

💡Do you know why beaches are getting smaller?
Yes, rising sea-levels have an impact, but other things do too:
-Natural sand comes from rocks, mainly from rocks that are eroded by rivers. But river dams stop river sand from getting to the sea and beaches
-And, natural sand movement of sandy coastlines is interrupted through recreational development

I’ll leave you to think about what sea life you’ve seen while snorkelling in the Mediterranean🐠

Happy Friday!