Mediterranean Sea

Part of the Atlantic Ocean

A semi-enclosed sea bordered by Europe, North Africa and the Near East, connected to the Atlantic via the Strait of Gibraltar.

• 🌊Atlantic Ocean
• 🪸High seas / open water
• 🌑Epipelagic zone
• 🌑Mesopelagic zone

Harmless

Mediterranean seagrass

Posidonia oceanica

Mediterranean seagrass

Some Posidonia meadows form a single clonal organism over 100,000 years old, potentially making it one of the oldest living things on the planet.

🌊 1–35 m

• ⚡ A single clonal individual may be over 100,000 years old, one of the oldest known living things
• ⚡ Captures up to 15 times more CO2 per hectare than an equivalent area of Amazon rainforest

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Moderate danger

Common torpedo

Torpedo torpedo

Common torpedo

A living 'battery' ray that immobilizes its prey in a fraction of a second with a discharge of up to 200 volts.

🌊 2–70 m

• ⚡ Generates its own electric shocks, up to 200 volts, to stun prey and deter predators
• ⚡ Detects hidden, even buried, prey through electroreception

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Harmless

Atlantic bluefin tuna

Thunnus thynnus

Atlantic bluefin tuna

One of the fastest fish in the ocean, able to keep its muscles warmer than the surrounding water to cross the Atlantic during its migrations.

🌊 0–250 m

• ⚡ Can keep its muscle temperature above that of the surrounding water (regional endothermy)
• ⚡ Top speed among the highest of all bony fish

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Low danger

Loggerhead sea turtle

Caretta caretta

Loggerhead sea turtle

With a massive head and jaws strong enough to crush a whole conch shell, this ocean globetrotter returns, decades later, to the exact beach where it hatched — guided by a built-in magnetic compass.

🌊 0–60 m

• ⚡ Senses Earth's magnetic field to find its way back to its natal beach after thousands of kilometers of migration
• ⚡ A jaw powerful enough to crush shellfish no other sea turtle species can access

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