The century-old research vessel Toftevaag is calling at Mediterranean ports under the MEDNIGHT flag. Throughout the summer it will be possible to visit the ship and even volunteer to take part in its citizen science activities in Ibiza, Portocolom (Mallorca), Almeria, Granada, Aguilas and Cabo de Palos.
One of the main objectives of MEDNIGHT, ‘La Noche Europea de las Investigadoras’, is to bring awareness of the problems of the Mediterranean Sea and the science that is trying to solve them to the general public. For this reason, MEDNIGHT 2021 has embarked on the Toftevaag, a research vessel that can be visited in different Mediterranean ports throughout the summer.
The Toftevaag is a historic Norwegian fishing vessel that for 32 years has been dedicated to research for the conservation of turtles, whales and dolphins in the Mediterranean. In addition, it tracks illegal nets, the famous curtains of death, in a never-ending campaign against illegal fishing with driftnets.
This year, it is flying the MEDNIGHT flag, united in a common project that aims to bring the most imminent problems of the Mediterranean Sea to the public’s attention and to highlight the scientific efforts that are attempting to solve them.
In this alliance, MEDNIGHT joins forces with an international volunteer programme on board the Toftevaag. The citizen science programme is called ‘All for the Sea’, and allows volunteers to enlist on board the ship to participate in its scientific expeditions.
The captain of the ship, Ricardo Sagarminaga, who has been working for 39 years for the conservation of the sea and particularly sea turtles, will speak every week about his work on board the Toftevaag on the MEDNIGHT website, in a video blog that is already active.
Throughout the months of June and July, during the refuelling stopovers between one scientific expedition and another, the Toftevaag opens its doors to the public, becoming a classroom of the sea and a travelling exhibition.
The ship that cares for the sea
The main achievements of the scientific work on board the Toftevagg have been the creation of 14 marine protected areas, the reconfiguration of maritime traffic in Alboran and the Strait, the development of measures to mitigate turtle bycatch in swordfish longline fishery and the involvement of the fishing sector in marine biodiversity conservation strategies.
Who makes MEDNIGHT possible?
MEDNIGHT is held within the framework of the European Researchers’ Night, a scientific dissemination project promoted and funded by the European Commission as part of the Marie Sklodowska-Curie actions of the Horizon 2020 program.
The MEDNIGHT project, coordinated by the Alicante company El Caleidoscopio , brings together the participation 13 institutions in a consortium: Fundación para el Fomento de la Investigación Sanitaria y Biomédica de la Comunitat Valenciana (FISABIO); Universitat Jaume I (UJI); Universitat de València (UV); Fundación para la Investigación del Hospital Clínico de la Comunitat Valenciana (INCLIVA); Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC); Universidad de Murcia; Universidad de Alicante (UA); Fundación Museo Didáctico e Interactivo de Ciencias de la Vega Baja del Segura de la Comunitat Valenciana (MUDIC); Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena (UPCT); Fundación SÉNECA – Agencia de ciencia y tecnología de la Región de Murcia; Epistimi Epikoinonia y SiCo Cyprus.