Same site, different story.

The area around nesting ground and on the gorgonians is also littered with lost fishing gear and other debris.

When breeding is this spatially concentrated, #marinelitter isn’t background noise – it’s direct pressure on a critical life stage.

This is the moment we realised what we were looking at.

During @nemo-tools.bsky.social ROV surveys to map gorgonian & coralligenous habitats, the seafloor suddenly turned into a landscape of circular nests, each guarded by a male.

We weren’t searching for spawning grounds – we dropped onto one.

🐟🪸We’ve just published the first documented nesting aggregation of black seabream (Spondyliosoma cantharus) in the Mediterranean Sea.

Author link (view-only): rdcu.be/eTtif

@skatsanevakis.bsky.social @thanasisnikolaou.bsky.social
#NEMOTOOLS #marinebiology #ROV #spawninggrounds #conservation

Same area, but now with the pressure visible: longlines, ropes and other fishing gear litter entangling gorgonians and covering the seabed. Chronic ghost fishing and structural damage that we urgently need to address.
#marinelitter #ghostfishing #MPA #conservation @thanasisnikolaou.bsky.social

Clip from the Tokmakia plateau (NE Lesvos): a mesophotic coralligenous reef with dense red gorgonians and complex bioconstructions. This is the kind of “animal forest” habitat our work focuses on documenting and conserving.
#coralligenous #gorgonians #oceans @skatsanevakis.bsky.social

🪸New paper out on mesophotic coralligenous reefs in the NE Aegean. We used side-scan sonar + ROV surveys to map gorgonian assemblages and quantify the impact of marine litter in a Natura 2000 site.
Open access: www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/13...

#marinebiology #Mediterranean #Natura2000 #NEMOTools

#GuardIAS virtual conference. Now our own PhD student Giota Xanthopoulou @xanthopop.bsky.social presenting her case study on detecting the #invasive brown algae Rugulopterix okamurae using #eDNA and POMPOMS!

#CitizenScience #bioinvasions #InvasiveSpecies #MarineEcology #AquaticEcology #IAS 🌍🌐🌊

#GuardIAS virtual conference, Presentation from our project partner Dr Rein Brys from INBO on their case study to detect the invasive crayfish.

#GuardIAS Virtual conference - project partner Amalia Mailli from #NORD talking on how to apply eDNA methodolgy for detecting IAS

#GuardIAS virtual conference, talk now by Dr Teo Karayannis on the Regulatory Development at the international Maritime Organisation #IMO with regards to ballast water and biofouling. Good to know where we stand and what is jhoped to be implemented .

#GuardIAS also conducts #Summer schools, 1st one already done, next one planned for 2026 in Bødo, Norway! Details to be shared here guardias.eu/summer-schoo... when they become available.

#GuardIAS also will conduct Massive Online Open Courses on preventing the introduction and spread of alien species. Which are open to all to participate. It is Free!! more details : guardias.eu/guardias-moo...

Only one of the many #CitizenScience initiatives in #GuardIAS project to tackle with #IAS This example is from the University of the Aegean dealing with #Lionfish @skatsanevakis.bsky.social

exciting developments within the GuardIAS project - using passive #underwater #acoustics to detect invasive alien species

Kick of of the #GuardIAS virtual conference with an introduction by @skatsanevakis.bsky.social

The most delightful reaction to finding the purple #gorgonian site from our wonderful student Artemis. Truly beautiful site. Will be processing and posting the video footage within a week! Watch this space! 🧪🪸🐠🐟 #fieldwork #marinescience

Already, we've found discarded fishing nets and lines—highlighting the urgent need for ongoing monitoring to protect marine biodiversity from human impacts. 🌊🚯

#MarineLitter #plasticpollution #MarineResearch

Exciting news! The NEMO Tools ROV team of @skatsanevakis.bsky.social has begun exploring Lesvos Island, assessing gorgonians & coralligenous assemblages. Two trips down, five to go! Follow along @nemo-tools.bsky.social l 🧪🌊🐠

#MarineBiology #NEMOTools #MarineEcology #Fieldwork