A marine world to behold
Proceeding into open water and diving into it while exploring its hidden treasures, we find a blue world in the Western Algarve, full of life, and keeping many memories of the past.
Regarding its natural heritage, we can see that the Western Algarve consists of a variety of rocky bottoms creating a diversity of habitats and a unique biological community in the European context. From the coastal sea-grass meadows (at Santa Eulália, Arrifes and Marinha), passing by the area with the highest natural richness of the Algarve coast, the bay of Armação de Pera, the rocky formations and artificial reefs of Alvor, the shoals of Porto de Mós, the sea caves in Sagres and ending in the kelp forests of Arrifana, the Western Algarve has plenty to offer.
Regarding underwater landscape and marine life, there are many diving spots in the Algarve coast. The highlights are in Sagres, due to its crystal clear waters, caves, tunnels and its mixed biodiversity originated in northern, tropical and Mediterranean environments.
Underwater photography in Sagres goes beyond the typical macro photography made elsewhere in the Algarve. Schools of sea breams, conger eels, mullets, parrotfish or mackerels easily catch your attention and fight for their place on the wall of fame. This is a place where gorgonian gardens can show five different species in all the colours of the rainbow. Notwithstanding, the apparently fragile and no less colourful jewel anemone dominates the bottom of the highest promontories, challenging the ocean swell.
But, if macro photography is your call, you have an array of nearly 40 species of nudibranchs (sea slugs). They show off bold and bright colours, betraying a toxic side which they save to potential predators.
This is also the only place in the entire European Atlantic coast where you can find some tropical fish, such as: red-banded seabream (Pagrus auriga), the Canary dentex (Dentex canariensis), the lemon-fish (Parapristipoma octolineatum) and the damselfish (Chromis chromis).
Shipwrecks
Alongside with this marine biodiversity richness, the Western Algarve has some of the jewels of underwater archaeology in Portugal. There were many shipwrecks in the Western Algarve coast over the centuries. Nonetheless, the remains of L’Ocean, Torvore (Vapor das 19), Vilhelm Krag and the Burgau barge are the ones which deserve more attention and receive more visitors.
L’Ocean measured about 60 meters in length and had 80 cannons. It was the flagship of the French fleet that engaged in combat with the English fleet, during the Battle of Lagos, in 1759. By the end of the battle and in disadvantage, the ship sought for the protection of the Portuguese batteries at the fortresses of Zavial and São LuÍs de Almadena. Then, it stranded in order to save the crew of 800 men. Its remains were the first underwater archaeological site to be equipped with a guided itinerary for scuba divers, providing information on-site about the wrecks (6 to 9 m deep).
In 1917, during World War I, the steamships Torvore and Vilhelm Krag were both sunk on the same day, along with two cargo ships, by the German submarine U35, using explosives. This happened off Praia do Barranco (28 to 32 m deep) and Praia da Luz (28 to 34 m deep), respectively. Diving on these deep wrecks requires additional planning. Even so, the reward is easily guaranteed given the richness of forms, the sceneries and the schools of swallowtail sea perch, bibs, damselfish, zebra seabreams, burrowing conger and moray eels.
Batelão do Burgau is a shallow dive (6 to 10 m deep), suitable for beginners or even for those who prefer to access it by swimming from the beach. Little is known about its origins. Probably, it belonged to the ancient quarry at Ponta de Almádena. It sunk in front of Burgau during a storm, in the 80’s. The wreck has about 20 meters long and holds a luxuriant fauna of fish and invertebrates. It is an excellent spot for underwater photography.
The Ocean Revival Park was recently created to establish an underwater museum and, simultaneously, an artificial reef. Aiming to promote underwater tourism, this innovative project includes four sunken warships of the Portuguese Navy, all in one place. The Park is located offshore Portimão, 2 miles off Prainha beach and eastwards of Alvor’s artificial reefs. Their bottom depth ranges from 26 to 32 meters deep. The four sunken ships are representatives of the Portuguese Navy. They are: the oceanic patrol, Zambezi (44 x 8 m); the hydrographic ship Almeida Carvalho (64 x 12 m); the corvette Oliveira e Carmo (85 x 12 m); and the frigate Hermenegildo Capelo (102 x 12 m).
CURIOSITIES
Black-faced blenny (Tripterygion delaisi):
The black-faced blenny presents sexual dimorphism. The female has a marbled and discreet colour, while the male is much more colorful, with a black head and yellow body.
Gorgonians:
Gorgonians are colonial cnidarians with an arborescent aspect. The colonies have an axial central stem with branches where small polyps are distributed throughout the surface. The most branched and flexible gorgonians are found in shallower zones with stronger currents. The different species of gorgonians have different colours: pink, yellow, red and white. It is relatively easy to identify the six different species that can occur in this area: (Eunicella warty, E. labiata, E. gazella, Leptogorgia sarmentosa, L. lusitanica, Paramuricea clavata) .
Anemones (Aiptasia diaphana and A. mutabilis):
These anemones are very similar and particularly difficult to distinguish. However, the first one does not exceed 5cm in height and 2-3cm in diameter, while the second may reach 20cm in height and 10cm in diameter. Also, A. diaphana possesses up to 80 tentacles, while A. mutabilis can have more than 160.
Blue sponge (Hymedesmia versicolor):
The species name refers etymologically to its colour range. In the Algarve it presents a very vivid blue colour, but in the Mediterranean it is yellowish. This species is associated with shadow areas, particularly in caves or zones below 20m depth.
Sea cucumbers (Holothuria spp.):
Several species of sea cucumbers are found in the Algarve coast. They are slow growing animals which reach maturity at the age of 5 to 8 years, but they can reach considerable sizes, ranging between 1cm to more than 1m in length. Besides the different colourations, one of the diagnostic and curious characteristics of these animals is the release (or not) of Cuvier tubes. This extremely adhesive filamentous structures possess toxicity, and are released when the sea cucumbers are attacked or simply handled.
Mediterranean ovulid (Simnia spelta):
This gastropod of approximately 1cm inhabits a depth range from the 4m to the 60m, and feeds of gorgonians. The animal has diverse colorations, from the white to bright pink, but as a rule, it presents the coloration of the gorgonian where it is located.
Mediterranean rainbow wrasse (Coris julis):
This fish presents noticeable sexual dimorphism, with brightly coloured males (with some predominance of green), and brown females. The fish is hermaphrodite and females can reverse sex to become secondary males.
Iridescent algae (Dictyota cyanoloma):
This algae belongs to the brown algae group. The algae is flexible and of green-brownish or yellowish colour, but once in water, it acquires a bluish iridescence coloration on the margins, which distinguishes this species from all other algae.
Red Algae (Asparagopsis armata):
This is a red algae with modified branches that form spines (origin of the term "armata"). Its life cycle has two phases with morphologies so different that they have different scientific names (Falkenbergia rufolanosa and A. armata). Nevertheless, and whatever the live cycle phase, the divers are advised that this algae sticks to the neoprene diving suits, being extremely difficult to remove.
closeCONSERVATION
Coral (Astroides calycularis):
This species is characteristic of dark areas (e.g. caves) and is protected in the Mediterranean Sea under the Berne Convention. It is one of the corals that can be seen in the Portuguese coast. Corals are a group of distinct marine macroinvertebrate species which have 6 tentacles, or multiples of 6, and secrete an external calcareous skeleton.
Pink sea-fan (Eunicella verrucosa):
According to the IUCN Red List, this species presents a “Vulnerable” status, and faces the risk of extinction due to accidental catches during fishing activities. In the Algarve coast the species presents stable population numbers.
Common-sea-urchin (Paracentrotus lividus):
Although not having any special conservation status in the Portuguese coast, this species (like others that occur in Portugal, such as: (Spongia agaricina, Palinurus elephas, Scyllarides latus and Scyllarus arctus) is protected in the Mediterranean Sea under the Berne Convention.
Seagrass meadows of (Cymodocea nodosa):
Seagrasses are angiosperms (flowering plants) that (in contrast to algae), possess stems, leaves, flowers and fruits. These seagrass meadows are protected by the Habitats Directive (92/43/CEE e Decreto-lei 140/99, de 24 de Abril) for the conservation of natural habitats in Europe.
In fact, these habitats are unusual in the oceanic beaches of our coast, but there are still some remains of these meadows at Praia da Marinha and Praia dos Arrifes Beaches. The meadows are highly productive habitats, which help to reduce coastal erosion, stabilize sediments, improve water quality and increase biodiversity, since they act as shelter, feeding and breeding areas for many marine species. These meadows can also be used for ambush by invertebrate predators like the common octopus (Octopus vulgaris) or the cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis).
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Sea anemones (Aiptasia diaphana, A. mutabilis, Alicia mirabilis and Anemonia viridis]):
These species have stinging cells (cnidoblasts) that release a toxin when disturbed. This toxin causes skin, eye, and mouth irritation. For this reason touching and handling must be done with extreme care.
Scorpionfishes (Scorpaena spp.):
The scorpionfishes have poisonous toxins at the base of the dorsal fin spines. These fishes (Scorpaena notata, S. porcus) have the extraordinary ability to mimic the environment, and are difficult to distinguish because of their camouflage on different substrates. The scorpionfishes that occur in the Atlantic are not lethal to humans, but the sting causes dormancy, pain and wounds. The pain can last up to 12 hours, and discomfort can last for days or weeks. The pain may be accompanied of a wound, which can develop into vesicles associated with varying degrees of edema. If stung by a scorpionfish, you must consider seeking medical advice.
Weever fish (Trachinus draco and Echiichthys vipera):
The weevers are marine fishers that inhabit sandy areas. These animals are considered a concern for sea-bathers because they are responsible for most of the reported accidents with poisonous animals in the Algarve. In fact, the weevers have venom glands on the base of the first dorsal fin spins and in the operculum area. The poison is potentially dangerous if it reaches the bloodstream, because it can paralyze a foot or a leg for some hours. Edema and pain are also common symptoms that can be treated by soaking the wound in hot water and/or applying local anaesthetic to the wound.
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