Neptune Seagrass

Photo: David G. del Olmo · CC BY-NC

The posidonia meadows of Arrecife de las Sirenas are among the most structurally intact in the western Mediterranean, forming multi-layered matte systems that provide nursery habitat for juvenile fish, sea horses, and pipefish while their leaf canopy supports a complete epiphytic food web. Posidonia grows at less than a centimetre per year and the meadows here likely represent centuries of undisturbed succession. Carbon sequestration measurements taken here by Spanish marine biologists have been cited in policy documents advocating for seagrass protection as a climate mitigation tool.