Natural Park Life
Published on 22nd May, 2008
whales, porpoises and dolphin
The Sierra Helada Natural Park which straddles Benidorm and Altea is now three years old and continues to grow in importance. This year it has a budget of €1.3 million and part of this will be used to purchase new submarine listening equipment.
This will enable the park's staff to detect whales, porpoises and dolphins as they enter its boundaries – part of it is on land but the vast majority is underwater – by their high pitched
chatter. The staff are pleased that these undersea mammals are now returning to the area in much greater numbers than before.
Another benefit of the listening equipment will be to find turtles that have become trapped in fishermen's nets – one of the main causes of the decline in turtle numbers in the
Mediterranean.
Its success underwater has been matched on land too – remember the story of the storm petrel colony last
January? - as over 140,000 visitors flocked to the park last year, of which 40,000 went by boat, making it the most popular in the Valencia area!
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