The screening of the documentary Chasing Coral as part of the Cinemar-Marilles maritime cinema cycle coincided with some news that affects all of the corals in the Balearics. It concerned the decision by the fisheries department to commission a study designed to assess the state of coral with a view to temporarily banning its extraction, as is the case in other parts of Mediterranean Spain.
Last night around 70 people attended the screening of Chasing Coral, the third in the Cinemar series, at the “Sa Nostra” cultural centre. The film documents coral reef bleaching in tropical regions but the Mediterranean and the Balearics are also seeing the effect of climate change on coral. This was emphasised by Dr Cristina Linares who took part in the round-table discussion after the screening.
Cristina Linares, professor at the Universidad de Barcelona, at the Cinemar round-table discussion on January 14.
Linares has spent more than 20 years studying the effects of climate change on Mediterranean gorgons and corals. The Balearics is one of the last zones where the impact on corals has been detected but it can’t escape this global threat. Linares said that since 1999 rising water temperatures in the Mediterranean has led to the death of gorgons and corals. These are creatures that grow and reproduce slowly and take longer to recover, especially with such frequent heatwaves. As they are structural species that provide a habitat for many other organisms, their disappearance affects the entire habitat.
Cladocora caespitosa, a Mediterranean coral found in the Balearic sea. Photo: Manu San Félix.
After a thorough analysis of the pressure and threats the Balearic sea faces, now it’s time to find solutions. Linares calls for more daring policies to reduce CO2 emissions as well as creating and enlarging protected marine areas.
"Nature is wiser and more resistant than it appears but we need to help it.” Cristina Linares.
The next Cinemar session will be on February 11 with the screening of an episode in the BBC’s Blue Planet series. As always, it will be in the auditorium of the “Sa Nostra” cultural centre(C/ Concepció 12, Palma), at 19h. You can reserve a seat here ana.pena@marilles.org
If you’d like more information about the corals of the Mediterranean and the Balearics we refer you this article by the journalist Elena Soto.
