Some say that the sea is everything to the Maltese, in all aspects: historical, cultural and economic. And some add that if we are lacking in natural resources in our country, the sea around us is by far a compensating resource which we have not yet succeeded to fully acknowledge.
Indeed, the sea surface area around the Maltese islands, contained within just the 25 nautical miles offshore limit, amounts to an astounding share equivalent to the size of eight football pitches for every resident on the islands, and is at least 20 times more in extent compared to the land size of the islands. This is by far superior to any other European country, and constitutes a resource advantage for alternative energy, aquaculture, marine biotechnology, maritime transport and many other activities underpinning the maritime economy.
When I first took a firm interest in oceanography, about three decades ago, these concepts were already known, and the aim of my first engagement, in those days with the Malta Council of Science and Technology, was to create a number of expert groups, together with the University, to explore and take the first steps in this direction.
The British military forces had left our country, leaving a void in many fields. This was certainly the case in physical oceanography, the study and monitoring of the motion and structure of the sea. In the late 1980s, I found an almost complete lack of information, no instruments to monitor the sea, and a complete lack of expertise in this field. It was an empty book waiting to be written.
The first page was written in 1993, when a digital sensor to measure sea levels was installed in Mellieħa Bay – a first for Malta. Such measurements became an asset to monitor sea level variability and to quantify the impacts of climate change in Maltese coastal waters. This was the very first step in oceanographic research which started to lead us where we are today, an enduring endeavour marked at the beginning by what was known as the Physical Oceanography Unit.
Using funds from international projects which we were able to access well before our country joined the EU, the Unit started to consolidate its infrastructure and continued to build a reputation, attracting the attention of high-level partners, such as IFREMER and CNRS from France, CNR, INGV and OGS from Italy, as well as organisations and international networks, especially in Europe and the Mediterranean region.
We are the eyes watching the sea around the Maltese islands
For the first time we could understand the currents and movements in the sea around the Maltese islands, and decipher the other key physical aspects that constitute the basic factors dictating the functioning of the marine ecosystem.
Later on, more emphasis was placed on operational oceanography. This is a branch in oceanography where the sea is observed on a continuous and routine manner through the installation and maintenance of permanent real-time sea monitoring systems, and the publishing of meteo-marine forecasts. Observations today include atmospheric parameters, sea level, currents and waves in both delayed and operational mode; forecasts for the same parameters are issued daily on the services website www.capemalta.net for the central Mediterranean area, the Malta shelf area and for marine areas closer to Malta, even as close as the coastal waters inside ports and in embayments.
The data is transmitted in real-time not only for research, but primarily to national stakeholders – such as Transport Malta and the Armed Forces of Malta – responsible entities and the general public and private users with an interest to apply such data in their routine operations, and to generate added value through service provision and smart applications.
These advances occurred in synergy with the work done by other European countries in the Mediterranean region. We have placed our country on the map in this discipline. Together with other European partners we have built international and regional networks in which we are still active today, in some cases with leading roles.
In the year 2000, these activities were moved to the University of Malta, where interest in this area continued to grow and supplemented by more academics in 2007. Today, this work is carried out by the Physical Oceanography Research Group, which was established under the new Department of Geosciences two years ago. The responsibility of this group is immense. We are the eyes watching the sea around the Maltese islands.
The Calypso High Frequency radar network (www.capemalta.net/calypso) is the flagship activity, consisting of a permanent and fully operational observing system, capable of recording (in real-time with hourly updates) surface currents in the Malta channel. The system combines data from installations at selected sites on the northern Maltese and southern Sicilian shores, to elaborate and publish data to users. Collected data, combined to numerical models, are intended to primarily support applications to optimise intervention in case of oil spill response as well as to support search and rescue, security, safer navigation, improved metro-marine forecasts, monitoring of sea conditions in critical areas such as proximity to ports, and the better management of the marine space between Malta and Sicily.
The first chapter of this book, which started 30 years ago, is now practically complete. We are now planning the next chapters at an exciting time when science and technology are opening new avenues in all fields, including the sea, and are fuelling innovation that can raise economic levels to new heights that perhaps we cannot yet fully grasp. One thing is certain. The next chapters cannot wait to be written, and we have the ink.
Prof. Aldo Drago is leader and initiator of the Physical Oceanography Research Group, which this year is celebrating 25 years of activity in oceanographic research and service provision. The University of Malta is a member of the Malta Maritime Forum. The opinion expressed by the author does not necessarily reflect the position of the Malta Maritime Forum.
www.mmf.org.mt