Reposidonia in the Argosaronic gulf

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spetses and Hydra islands are famous for their maritime tradition and continue to be popular destinations for sailors, hosting numerous events and reviving events and customs of their maritime history, such as the "International Race of Classical and Traditional Boats of Spetses", "Armata" and "Miaoulia".

The areas natural beauty makes them even more popular destinations for sailing and speedboats. At the same time, the fact that vehicles are not allowed on the islands and many journeys to and from the islands are made by water taxi, leads to increased boat traffic around the islands.

However, the available port facilities are inadequate to accommodate such a number of boats and as a result, the increased tourism in the area is contributing strongly to the degradation of the Posidonia meadows that have been mapped around these two islands through the uncontrolled anchoring of boats on the meadows.

What we have achieved so far:

In 2022 iSea mapped for the first time the Posidonia meadows around Spetses and Spetsopoula through satellite imagery and data collected through field surveys. In 2023, the mapping of the meadows was extended to the island of Hydra.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Despite the fact that the area of meadows in Spetses is quite large, they are affected by fragmentation and degradation in multiple locations.The situation is similar in the strait between Spetses and Spetsopoula.Finally, in Spetsopoula, although no corresponding anthropogenic pressures were observed, necrosis was observed in many parts of the meadow, leaving the rhizomes of the Posidonia uncovered, which now harbour various species of seasonal vegetation.

In Hydra the distribution of meadows is quite limited and where Posidonia is present it is not coherent. On the beaches of Agios Nikolaos and Agios Georgios (Bisti) this may be the result of uncontrolled anchoring, as the areas are almost exclusively accessible from the sea and there is intense boat activity. In addition, at Molos beach the pier attracts higher activity of boats anchored in the bay.


The degradation of the Posidonia meadows in Spetses and the limited distribution of these in Hydra further intensify the need to protect and restore the remaining meadows in these areas!

Actions and targets for 2024
The following actions will be carried out in the context of this years project:

To better understand the distribution of Posidonia in the Argosaronic Gulf, as well as, to make decisions for the future management and conservation of the area based on up-to-date scientific data and to raise awareness of this valuable habitat among local communities and the public, iSea will map the Posidonia meadows around the island of Poros and the Methana peninsula.

Find the project's reports below:
Informative Material:
Project's Team:
Roxani Naasan Aga – Spyridopoulou

Roxani Naasan Aga – Spyridopoulou

Roxani is an environmentalist, she holds a bachelor’s in Marine sciences from the University of Aegean. In 2019, she started working on projects for the “Aquatic Litter” and the “Vulnerable Species” departments. Currently, she is working as a Project Manager for projects regarding “Vulnerable Species” and “Human and Aquatic Ecosystems”.

Her main research interests are related to elasmobranch ecology and biology, fisheries biology, and marine protected areas. She holds a speedboat licence, and a diving licence and is multilingual (Greek, Arabic, English, and French). She knows how to code in R. She is a qualified user of ArcGIS and SNAP(ESA). Furthermore, she knows how to use software for ecological data (Vissim, Populus, Primer, Presence, Distance).

Before this, she used to work with humanitarian NGOs for refugees in Greece as a cultural mediator and interpreter.

 

Contact Info:

Email: [email protected] 

tel. +302313090696

mob. +306944505224 

Ilektra Athinaiou

Ilektra Athinaiou

Ilektra was born in 1998, she is from Nafplio and has completed her bachelor’s in Marine and Freshwater Biology at Edinburgh Napier University, while she recently graduated from her master’s degree in Marine Conservation from the University of Plymouth. Academically, she has focused on a range of topics and has completed her dissertation on elasmobranch trade in Greece in collaboration with iSea, while for her MSc thesis, she worked on shark and ray stock assessment approaches with Blue Resources Trust. She was previously involved with Archelon working first as a monitoring coordinator in Zakynthos and later as a project assistant in the Peloponnese. She volunteered with the Argolic Environment Foundation as a local admin and has participated as a diver in the cleanups of two “Prosfero” projects with iSea. She has knowledge on R, QGIS, adobe premiere and Wix, while she is a certified PADI Open Water Diver and BLS first aid responder and holds a drone license (A1/A3).

She has a range of interests, including blue carbon ecosystems, elasmobranchs, genetics and using technology for research. She speaks 3 languages: Greek (native), English (native) and basic Dutch. Within iSea she works as a Project Manager in the Vulnerable Species Pillar.

Contact Information:

Email: [email protected]

Phone number: +30 2313 090696

Kyriaki Pyloridou

Kyriaki Pyloridou

Kyriaki was born in 1999 in Thessaloniki. She has a bachelor’s degree from the Department of Oceanography and Marine Sciences, from the University of the Aegean. She speaks three languages: Greek (native), English (B2) and Chinese (beginner). She’s familiar with Microsoft Office applications, ArcGIS, R and she’s a certified PADI Open Water Diver. She conducted her internship at iSea in the summer of 2021, in the “Vulnerable Species” pillar and more specifically in the project “Sharks and Rays in Greece and Cyprus”. She’s working as an Assistant Project Manager. 

 

Contact Information:

Email: [email protected]

Tel. +302313090696

Collaborators:

 

 

 

 

Funders: