Monitoring on the beach and in the water at the pilot area of the Gargano
The team ofUniversity of Siena, in collaboration with the mussel farmers of Ittica Del Giudice at work for the first monitoring of 2023.
A very important project action which aims to measure the effectiveness of LIFE MUSCLES in mitigating the threat represented by the dispersion of socks for mussel farming in the two pilot areas and evaluate the achievement of the objectives and expected results.
The activity of Beach litter monitoring it was conducted on January 24 on the beaches of Capojale, a hamlet in the municipality of Cagnano Varano, in the Gargano, in the Province of Foggia.
…”Same beach, same sea” of our summer activity Plastic Socks Busters
Scientific monitoring, based on the marine strategy protocol, has made it possible to identify and characterize the waste, with particular attention to the socks for mussel farming, on two 100-metre transects.
Instead, on Wednesday 25 January, professors, researchers, students and mussel farmers embarked on the "cozzara" to sampling the microplastics in the water column at the Ittica del Giudice plant and in the surrounding area. The data that will be processed will be essential to identify the background necessary for the implementation of the project activities.
At the same time, the working group has sampled and dissected a significant number of mussels to carry out ecotoxicological and ingestion analyzes of microplastics. This activity was hosted by Sea Turtle Recovery Center of Manfredonia where the coordinator Giovanni Furii also had the opportunity to illustrate the work of the structure in tackling the problems concerning sea turtles: an important training opportunity for the students of the master's degree in Ecotoxicology and environmental sustainability of the University of Siena, who have been involved in all activities since following the Course on Resource Management of Marine Environments with Professor Cristina Panti and that up Monitoring and conservation of endangered species held by Professor Maria Cristina Fossi.
