Juan Sempere-Valverde : 11 minutes : Strait of Gibraltar and Alboran Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is one of the most biodiverse regions in the world, but also one of the most threatened by human activity. Its warm waters, which witnessed the birth of human civilisation, meet the Atlantic Ocean through the Strait of Gibraltar, a passage with strong currents and one of the richest areas of the Mediterranean. These currents are essential for the survival of the communities of the western Mediterranean, including those of the coral reef habitat, which is remarkable for its diversity and beauty. But they are and were also essential for human beings, who still carry out age-old traditional tasks in its waters, such as Almadraba fishing. However, this environmental and cultural wealth is today threatened by the convergence of multiple factors. The most recent of these is the harmful invasion of an algae from the western Pacific: Rugulopteryx okamurae.