After a 200-mile crossing of the West Mediterranean from Sardinia, the PartArt4OW Sailing Lab has officially entered Spanish waters, mooring in the Menorcan ports of Mahón and Ciutadella for a technical stop on the expedition route toward Badalona.
Arriving in the Mahón Fjord
The crew navigated into the striking six-kilometre Mahón Fjord, one of the longest natural harbours in the Mediterranean, marking the SailingLab's arrival in Menorca. The island is both a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, managed by the Menorca Island Government, and home to extensive Marine Protected Areas, where decades of effort to protect Posidonia oceanica seagrass meadows have helped sustain a rich and diverse marine ecosystem.
A Protected Sea, But Not an Isolated One
Despite Menorca's protected status, the crew was met with a sobering reminder that the ocean has no borders: alongside abundant marine life, alarming amounts of plastic bags were spotted floating in the water. According to data from SubMon (submon.org), micro- and mesoplastics carried by ocean currents can be found even within these protected waters. The crew also observed the presence of an alien species, the blue crab, introduced accidentally through commercial shipping and now finding favourable conditions to reproduce as sea temperatures rise.
The Privatization of Access to the Sea
In the large harbour of Mahón, the crew encountered another well-documented issue: the privatization of access to the sea. Free anchoring is not possible in the harbour, and so-called "social anchoring" spaces, informal areas where local communities can moor without cost, have been shrinking.
Read more on this issue (in Spanish): menorca.info coverage of the fight against mooring privatization
Onboard Science: Processing the Crossing
During this long leg of the journey, the crew kept busy in the onboard laboratory, processing field data, photographs, and video documentation gathered throughout the Mediterranean crossing, work that will feed into PartArt4OW's ongoing scientific and artistic outputs.
Watch
About PartArt4OW
PartArt4OW (Participatory Art for Society Engagement with Ocean and Water) is a Horizon Europe project connecting artists, scientists, and coastal communities across the Mediterranean through Participatory Art Initiatives (PAIs). The project's SailingLab expedition sails from Anzio, Italy to Badalona, Spain, documenting environmental, cultural, and scientific themes at each coastal stop along the way.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or CINEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
Grant Agreement No. 101157247, managed by CINEA (European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency).