Riserva naturale marina Isola di Ustica
Riserva naturale marina Isola di Ustica is an underwater nature reserve on the island of Ustica , which lies north of Sicily in the Tyrrhenian Sea and belongs to the metropolitan city of Palermo .
Numerous fish species live in the island's clear waters, especially tuna and swordfish, perch and bream, as well as turtles and lobsters. Species -rich algae vegetation thrives on the uneven seabed and in the underwater caves . This also includes endemic algae species such as Laminaria algae .
Due to the unique underwater world, an international exhibition for water sports has been held on Ustica every year since 1959. In 1984 an underwater science and engineering academy was established. In 1986 the waters of the island were placed under strict nature protection to protect the underwater world. The nature reserve has an area of 15,736.63 hectares .
Web links
- More information about Ustica and its underwater world
- http://www.parks.it/riserva.marina.isola.ustica/index.html on www.parks.it ( Italian )
Coordinates: 38 ° 43 ′ 0 ″ N , 13 ° 11 ′ 0 ″ E