Marine Education in Menton Marine Area
We like to offer schools and other interested parties to spend some time on the boat to learn about the biology of the sea around us.
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This will take place outside the tourist season and for that reason at reduced prices.
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We like to corporate with the teachers at the schools to adjust the lessons to what is relevant to the students.
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We can also offer to have a diver in the water in front of the windows, with an underwater communication system, explaining the underwater ecosystem.
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Below are some examples of what the area has to offer:
The red gorgonian and other corals are living in the area.
Normally only divers can see them as they grow on dept below 20 meters.
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Our boat is equipped with windows that magnify the view, and due to the clear water, it is one of the few places in the Mediterranean where it will be possible to see the animals from the boat.
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The best option is to do the trip at night when our lights will reveal the colors, that disappear in the daytime due to the water absorption of the colors at the dept.
The sea around Menton is home to one of the most exceptional mussels that exist in the world, the Noble Pen Shell.
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The size is normally between 30 - 50 cm but can reach up to 1,2 m. long.
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Pen Shells sometimes host symbiotic shrimp which live inside its shell. It is believed that when it sees a threat, the shrimp warns the host, perhaps by retracting its claws or even by pinching. The clam then closes shut.
The shells are the origin of sea silk which is made from the fibers the mussel uses to attach itself to the stones or sediment.​
The cloth produced from these filaments can be woven even more finely than silk, and is extremely light and warm; it was said that a pair of women's gloves made from the fabric could fit into half a walnut shell
The sea around Menton is also home to something that looks like algae but is a plant, called Posidonia.
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Also known as seagrass, it has a vital role in filtering sediments, thus raising the oxygen quality of the underwater ecosystem, and providing food and shelter to hundreds of marine plants and animals including starfish, sea urchins, sponges, sea horses, and mollusks.
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Posidonia meadows are the lungs of the sea. They absorb enormous amounts of CO2; indeed, about half of the oxygen we breathe is produced underwater.
Posidonia oceanica can also flower under the sea. This event occurs infrequently during autumn every five to ten years. Its green flowers, hidden under the leaves, offer a rare spectacle for divers.
The flowers are hermaphrodite, i.e. both male and females at the same time. The fruits require 6 – 9 months to ripen. Between May and July, they drop off and float for a while. They can wash up on beaches in great quantities. The fruits have the shape and the size of an olive.