Casco Antiguo installs the first underwater observatory studying climate change in real time.

Climate change is one of the most pressing global challenges we face today, motivating research resulting in the prediction of a billion deaths or the estimation of 27 million children suffering from hunger due to this crisis. 

Therefore, in the context of contributing real-time data and images, the installation of the first European marine observatory was recently completed in the bay of Malaga. Known as 'MARETO', it was installed in the presence of Francisco de la Torre, mayor of Malaga, in Baños del Carmen. 

"The oceanographic buoy Mareto has been tested and is already emitting meteorological data, current measurements, and various water parameters such as conductivity, temperature, pressure, pH, dissolved oxygen, fluorescence, and turbidity.", shared our colleague Wenceslao González-Garra, director of the Oceanographic Department at Casco Antiguo. 

This Buoy incorporates cameras that will transmit images in 4K and record the activity of species living in the sea, the increase of algae, and other organisms. Among other oceanographic instruments, it carries a hydrophone to record sound and a current meter, which measures waves or currents. It will capture and send data to note the effects of climate change in the Alboran Sea, it has been anchored and moored at about 20 meters depth off the coast of Baños del Carmen. 

'MARETO' consists of a land node and a maritime one. Both operate through radio communication, and energy is supplied by 12 solar panels placed on the buoy. 

Near the Malaga capital, ‘MARETO’ has been placed in a specific zone of the bay where the highest marine biodiversity can be found. Accessibility and water quality are factors that have been considered. 

For the installation of the buoy, the anchoring of two ballasts of 1.5 tons each has been required as well as the installation of an underwater structure. For this operation, a crane ship and an underwater vehicle such as the TERES-ROV have been used, after winning the public tender called by the City Council of Malaga.