“Saturday 25-07-20 in La Llosa, Benidorm Island. Around 10:20 at a depth of 24 meters and 20 degrees temperature. Common eagle ray  (Myliobatis aquila)”

“Yesterday, while diving at 22 meters in front of the lighthouse of Portocolom (Mallorca), we were lucky enough to see a bull ray (Pteromylaeus bovinus)”

“Found on Saturday August 8, at El Cerezo Beach, Xilxes, Castellón. Could it be Raja montagui?”

Underwater video, economical and easy-to-use photography equipment, well boosted social networks and the will to share. We are living a time to explain and share experiences, and fortunately these experiences are often associated with register of wildlife sightings that those of us working in marine conservation should know how to take advantage of.

That is why in 2018 we created a Facebook Group Sharks and Rays of the Western Mediterranean (The MECO project) to start a register of sharks and rays sightings in the Spanish Mediterranean. With this initiative we became part of the MECO project (Mediterranean Elasmobranch Citizen Observations)

The MECO project is a large scale initiative in the whole Mediterranean that was born to make good use of the observations that people who sail, dive, fish or just swim make on different species of sharks and rays. Currently there are about 20,000 users from 11 different countries sending their observations.  The ultimate goal is to have a large shared database that takes advantage of the public’s observations. Working at sea is difficult and expensive, so if we can take advantage of the sightings and records of  people the better. We can take an important step forward in terms of knowledge, distribution and seasonality of the species of this group of fish.

SUBMON coordinates the Spanish group of the MECO Project with the constant work of Jaime Penadés and Ignasi Nuez and we are adding our data to the MECO project in a global way

This year at Sharks and Rays of the Western Mediterranean (The MECO project) we have exceeded 1,100 people in the community and have already obtained data from two hundred sightings and records of up to 15 different species

We encourage you to join us, either to share your observations or just to see and learn about the still interesting diversity of sharks and rays we have and see on our shores