Researchers from different groups of the ULPGC university institute gave talks this weekend on the Portuguese Caravel, on how humans affect the oceans, on the relationship between physics and biology in the marine environment, as well as on the impact of microplastics, ocean exploration using robots, prediction through AI and the use of Canary Island dates in aquaculture
The ECOAQUA University Institute, belonging to the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC), participated actively this weekend in the 14th edition of the International Sea Fair FIMAR 2025, held at the Muelle Sanapú in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, giving seven of the 17 informative talks scheduled as part of this event of reference for the nautical and marine-maritime sector throughout the Canary Islands, which this year had as its theme ‘For the sustainability of the Canary Islands coastline’.
The public attending FIMAR 2025 getting first-hand knowledge of ECOAQUA's projects and research during one of the sessions at the university institute's stand.
Anna Cunill i Sáez was the first of the institute's researchers to give one of these talks on Friday, 6 June. Under the title ‘Drifting colonies: biology and navigation of the Portuguese Caravel’, the member of the Ecophysiology of Marine Organisms Group (EOMAR) explained that the Portuguese Caravel (Physalia physalis) ‘is not an individual animal, but a colony formed by different specialised individuals with specific functions in the form of tentacles. These curious animals live on the surface of the sea and navigate using the wind and currents. Although these animals have undergone little change over the millennia, their metabolism and navigation remain a mystery.
Anna Cunill, during her talk at FIMAR 2025.
As part of the PHYSALIA project, she said, ‘we investigate their growth, anatomy, physiognomy and metabolism through respiration measurements, enzymatic studies and histology. In addition, we track caravels with drones to study whether their movement is more influenced by the wind, ocean currents or whether they can take their own course.
How do we affect the ocean? Getting to know the multi-stressors with ASTRESS', by Sofía Huelbes Muñoz, also a researcher at EOMAR, was the next of the presentations given by ECOAQUA in the framework of FIMAR 2025.
Huelbes Muñoz argued that ‘over time we have become a little more aware of the impact we have on the marine environment, but we are not always fully aware of it’. In the presentation, he provided some of the keys to the new ASTRESS project, which will investigate the different multi-stressors generated in the ocean. ‘We are focusing on investigating what we call the triple threat: microplastics, chemical spills and anthropogenic noise,’ he said.
‘We will study these impacts on zooplankton, suprabenthos and some species of marine crustaceans, through experiments in which we will expose individuals to these stressors and then analyse their respiration in situ and their enzymatic activity,’ said the researcher.
Also on Friday, Marina Gutiérrez García tried to explain ‘What does physics have to do with biology in the oceans?’. The EOMAR researcher pointed out that ‘the ocean is an environment where physical factors (temperature, salinity, currents, among others) and chemical factors (chemical reactions that take place) condition the first organisms of the various food webs that can be found in the ocean’.
Marina Gutiérrez during her talk at FIMAR 2025.
Gutiérrez García indicated that one of the regions of the planet where this process ‘stands out considerably’ is at the poles, ‘where ice cover strongly conditions the development of phytoplankton blooms’.
Microplastics, robots, AI and dates
On Saturday, the researcher from the Physical Oceanography and Applied Geophysics Research Group (OFYGA) Álvaro Cubas Viera gave a talk entitled ‘Microplastics and their journey through the oceanic eddies of the Canary Islands’. In it, Cubas Viera explained that ‘contamination by microplastics represents one of the great environmental challenges of today. These particles have been detected in practically every corner of the planet, from human tissue to the depths of the ocean, with consequences for ecosystems and health that are still difficult to quantify. Understanding how these pollutants are distributed and transported in the marine environment is essential to address the problem effectively.
In this context, he added, ‘the Canary Islands present themselves as a natural laboratory of great interest. The region is marked by the constant formation of oceanic eddies, dynamic structures that can reach sizes comparable to those of the islands themselves. These eddies not only transport nutrients and organisms, but also accumulate microplastics, raising their concentrations up to three times above normal levels. Studying these processes allows us to better understand the journey of microplastics in the ocean’.
Next, Jacob Stefan Torres Ojeda, also from OFYGA, gave the talk ‘In the wake of the islands: exploring ocean dynamics with autonomous robots’. In this talk, the researcher warned that ‘the ocean surrounding the Canary Islands is full of invisible dynamics. South of Gran Canaria, wind and currents create wakes that affect the properties of the water.
During his speech he explored the use of gliders, autonomous underwater vehicles, to study these wakes. In this respect, he stressed that ‘thanks to this technology, we can observe in detail how islands influence ocean dynamics and nearby marine ecosystems’.
One of the attendees at the ECOAQUA stand at FIMAR 2025 taking an interest in the university institute's research.
In the Saturday afternoon session, Giovanny Alejandro Cuervo Londoño, member of OFYGA, gave the talk ‘Towards a new era in ocean forecasting with AI’. ‘In recent decades, atmospheric and oceanic forecasting has experienced significant progress thanks to numerical models based on physical laws. However, the high computational cost and the limitations associated with the parameterisation of unresolved processes have opened the way to new strategies. In this context, models based on Artificial Intelligence (Deep Learning) emerge as a powerful alternative, capable of providing accurate forecasts in less time and with lower computational requirements, which represents a revolution in oceanographic modelling,’ said the researcher.
In this research, he said, ‘we focus on applying Deep Learning techniques, especially Graph Neural Networks, for the spatio-temporal forecasting of oceanographic variables in the upwelling system of northwest Africa, with emphasis on the oceanic region of the Canary Islands. Using state-of-the-art models such as Google DeepMind's GraphCast and high-resolution datasets as a basis, we aim to predict key variables such as temperature, salinity and ocean currents’.
Based on the results obtained, Cuervo Londoño argued that ‘these techniques can not only replicate the behaviour observed in reality, but also capture complex spatio-temporal patterns with remarkable efficiency. The research continues with the development of more robust models and the incorporation of new variables to improve accuracy. The ultimate goal is to provide tools that will revolutionise the field of oceanography to better understand the ocean, its variability and its potential response to climate change,’ he concluded.
Finally, under the title ‘Do sea bass like Canarian dates’, Charles Jouan, from the Aquaculture Research Group (GIA), closed ECOAQUA's participation in this informative scientific section of FIMAR 2025. During the talk, based on the project ‘R+D+I Towards Aquaponic Development In The Up Islands And The Circular Economy. Interregional Forward Challenges (ISLANDAP ADVANCED) MAC2/1.1a/299', Charles Jouan argued that the Canary Islands have different species of palm trees spread throughout the territory, from protected areas to tourist areas, as well as agricultural and urban land.
‘This multidisciplinary project evaluates the quality of fruits at different degrees of maturity of different varieties of palm trees and different areas, in order to determine differences between species and the cascade valorisation of the fruits, including products and feed for aquaculture. Specifically, the results of one of the studies carried out with different date seed flours, produced at ECOAQUA's facilities, as a sustainable ingredient in the feed of juvenile sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) are presented’, he explained.
To this end, he commented, ‘five experimental diets were formulated: a control diet and four others with 10% date seed meal subjected to different treatments (with and without microwaves, and/or defatted). The results indicate the acceptability of date meal and that microwave treatment significantly improves the growth, digestibility and intestinal health of the fish’.
In his opinion, the research ‘proposes innovative solutions to the problem of agricultural waste in the Canary Islands, taking advantage of by-products rich in nutrients such as date seeds’. The application of technologies such as microwave treatment, he continued, ‘makes it possible to increase the nutritional value of these by-products. The results obtained have aroused the interest of the scientific community and companies, and underline the relevance of this flour as a novel raw material with which to boost the circular economy in the Canary Islands agri-food value chain and in the field-sea interrelationships and the agricultural and tourism sectors’.
At FIMAR 2025, promoted by the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, the City Council of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the Port Authority of Las Palmas and organised by Infecar Feria de Gran Canaria and Ciudad de Mar, ECOAQUA also set up its own stand with tables to show the activities developed by its research groups and where several posters of scientific projects developed by these groups were also exhibited.