Xpedicionària project was born from the agreement between Balearia Foundation, Rose Foundation for CAM, the Ministry of the Environment and Mobility of the Government of the Balearic Islands, and the University of Alicante as well as the Institute of Marine Sciences (ICM) - CSIC through LIFE CUBOMED project. Xpedicionària aimed to raise awareness and encourage reflection on the current state of the Mediterranean Sea.

Xpedicionària project, designed as a scientific expedition for high school students, seeks to promote environmental education, encouraging students to embark on the adventure of participating in a real study on the marine fauna of the Mediterranean Sea, observing and understanding its rich biodiversity. Thus, as the CUBOMED LIFE project, which was conducting transects Baleària craft to make sightings of jellyfish, and seeking to extend the scope of the project through a citizen science approach, through Xpedicionària invite students to join the ongoing science project. With this project Baleària Foundation seeks to contribute to environmental education with training activities designed to promote and encourage energy efficiency, and along with it, teach and make known how Baleària shipping and transport becomes efficient, less polluting and more respectful to the environment.  

The Mediterranean Sea is exceptionally rich in resources, although it represents about 0.8% of the world's oceans surface, there are living around 7.5% of all animal species and 18% of all known marine flora. The Mediterranean Sea has 20 species of cetaceans, half of them throughout the year, plus 4 of the 7 species of sea turtles in the world, large pelagics and a large variety of seabirds. However, the Mediterranean Sea is now considered the most polluted sea in the world so their wealth is seriously threatened, mainly due to anthropogenic reasons such as overfishing, habitat loss and pollution, among others.

For these reasons, the Xpedicionària project pretends to sensitize the participants about the threat that now are facing the vast majority of sea species, displaying the effects of human actions on the environment, and be aware of the level of contamination present in the sea, where it is increasingly common to find waste and other plastics that make it little by little in a large landfill. Thus, this project is committed to the youth of the Balearic Islands, future heirs of our society, hoping that through the experiences of this adventure, one day sailing the Mediterranean Sea, will be able to analyze the current situation from a more realistic view and then put their creativity, expressing and developing their ideas, only to be drivers of new proposals to help to reduce and mitigate our impact on nature, creating a more respectful society, taking care of the environment through knowledge and understanding.

“Tell me and I will forget, show me and I will remember, involve me and I will learn”

Benjamin Franklin