Join on WhatsApp
Join on Telegram
Rabat – Morocco is set to participate in an international underwater archaeological research mission in the Skerki Bank between Tunisia and Sicily in the coming week, according to Kawa News.
The team is reported to also include researchers from Algeria, Croatia, Egypt, Spain, France, Italy, and Tunisia, aboard the Alfred Merlin, a French underwater research vessel.
The research is not meant to look for artifacts or collect fragments, Kawa News reports. Rather, it aims to create a map of the area to create an inventory of what the Skerki bank contains in terms of historical artifacts, as well as biological life.
The Skerki Bank is known for numerous archaeological finds, such as Roman wrecks dating back to the 1st century BC. Besides ancient vases and artifacts that can be found on such sites, they also house incredibly diverse lifeforms, being sites of immense biodiversity.
Italian and German ships were also sunk in this area during World War II, with several wrecks from that era now littering the seabed.
As far as biodiversity goes, the bank is home to numerous caves that are lined with different kinds of corals and populated with lobster colonies. The area is also home to large groups of dolphins, turtles, and white sharks.
All of this makes the Skerki area one of the main biodiversity hotspots in the Mediterranean, representing a “meeting point” for various sea species.
Scientists and archaeologists have recently intensified calls to preserve this environment, as it represents not only a great hub for biodiversity but also has great historical value because of the shipwrecks it hosts.
To this end, many are calling for an enforced ban on illegal fishing and looting in the area, to protect one of the most valued underwater locations in the Mediterranean.
