According to researcher Amelia Ocaña Martín, Professor of Zoology and coordinator of the guide, until the publication of this book no scientific work compiled so many data about the marine life of the littoral of Granada and nobody in the University had showed special interest in the study of marine environment, «despite of our proximity to the coast and even more as we know that the waters of Southern European Peninsula have the greatest biological diversity of the European coasts».
The first objective of the guide –the biologist says– is to help Biology students, scuba divers and naturalists in general to identify the animals they observe in the environment and get to know how to classify them according to their taxonomic categories of higher rank, to try, in a second step, to classify them according to their species. The inclusion of more than 500 photographies in the guide, taken in most cases by the zoologist and underwater photographer Luis Sánchez Tocino, makes this labor easier. In addition, the bookincludes diagrams, sketchs and an illustrated glossary.
The second objective of the publication is to develop the sensibility and ecological awareness of all the people that read the guide, «taking as starting point that the best we get to know the functioning of an ecosystem the most we will respect the elements which make it up». «We are excited about thinking that we can help to develop respect for the marine environment with this work «, the authors affirm.
In relation to the fieldwork carried out to prepare the guide, Professor Ocaña reports that the area of study includes all the coast of the province of Granada and that six different areas have been selected for the immersions beach dredging: Beaches of La Mamola, La Rijana, Bahía de Velilla, Punta de San José, Punta de La Mona and Cerro Gordo. The sampling period was from December of 1994 to June of 1997. A first edition of the guide was published in 1999 and a secondone in 2000. At the momet, the authors of the book are preparing a second volume in which they will tackle the study of crustaceans, fishes and scidians and are concluding another one for the County Council of Granada in where they describe, from a faunal point of view, the main biological communities of the coast of Granada.
Practices in the sea
Together with Professor Sánchez Tocino, Amelia Ocaña is also the person in charge of one of the most novel subjects of the Faculty of Sciences: «Marine Zoology». «When I started the subject three years ago, I intended to bring marine environment closer to students, to stop presenting conservated material in the practices and to try that students knew marine life, alive, in its environment and integrated in the communities it belongs to», the researcher says. «The only requirement for the students is that they can swim and to get excited about knowing as much as possible about sea and its creatures, with the limitations, of course, of having so few credits at our disposal to develop such an extensive subject», she adds.
The subject has a practical content that is carried out in the laboratory when the study of the microscopical life is required –and, therefore, optical equpment is needed—and coast practices to observe large-sized animals. Benthic microfauna are studied in laboratory associated with algae, small stones and sediment and, on the other hand, planctonic microfauna which live in the water mass. Therefore, teachers bring samples to the laboratory for students to observe para and identify the associated fauna. «It all would be impossible if we did not have an aquarium where samples are kept alive and, once they have been studied, they are returned to the sea», the person in charge of the subject points out.
Coast practices take place on the coast, specifically on the beach and rocky places of Marina del Este (La Herradura, Almuñecar): «We move the students to the coast and they get into the water to study marine life in a direct way, with diving equipments –a lot of them are scuba divers or do the diving course in a parallel way to the subject- or, if the water is cold, diving goggles, flippers and neoprene suits».
The ‘CUGAS’ (University Club of Underwater Activities of Granada)
The persons risponsible for «Marine Zoology» and the most «seafaring» of General Zoology have promoted the creation of the so-called CUGAS (University Club of Underwater Activities of Granada), «with the aim of bringing all the students and graduates interested in marine biology together and organizing activities related to this environment like diving and biology courses, deepening the awareness of Mediterranean coast communities or introduction to research work».
«It is a way for the students to keep in touch with us and for everybody in the University of Granada who share the same interests and hobbies to be a great family», the biologist says; she also thanks the Vice-Rectorates of Students, Research, Academic Planning and Teaching Planning. «This way a number of ideas and good intentions have been put into practice». Professor Ocaña dedicates a thought to his collegue, Antonino Sánchez Ortega, zoologist and treasurer of the CUGAS, who passed away last June.
Reference: ** Amelia Ocaña Martín (Vice-President of the CUGAS) and Luis Sánchez Tocino (President of the CUGAS).
Department of Animal Biology and Ecology of the Faculty of Sciences of Granada. Phone number: 958-243239 E-mail: amelia@ugr.es; lstocino@ugr.es
** Alejandro Ibáñez Yuste.
Bachelor of Biological Sciences and Secretary of the CUGAS.
Phone number: 626-240394
