Marettimo

PUNTA OMO MORTO

Tuna and greater amberjack paradise

General Description

After descending to the 13 m deep seabed, heading north you will come to a slightly-sloping rocky area with patchy vegetation that extends down to a depth of 18 m. The route passes between numerous boulders along the coast, and arrives in an area with large slabs of light-coloured rock. Heading towards Punta Mugnone, you will encounter more large boulders, which likely broke off from the promontory above. Here the seabed is detritus in tracts, and reaches the depth of 24 m. 

Naturalistic Features

At the anchor point you will encounter the photophilous vegetation characteristic of the area, including green algae like Acetabularia acetabulum, and brown algae like peacock’s tail, not to mention various species of Cystoseire. At a depth of 15 m, the numerous boulders are covered with green algae, encrusting sponges, and various sedentary polychaetes, like protula tubularia and Mediterranean fanworm. The huge slabs of rock are home to large numbers of sea balls and lush arborescent colonies of white gorgonian sea fans. The cracks between these rocks make excellent dens for groupers. You will find large numbers of seabream around the other large boulders from a landslide towards Punta Mugnone, while the surrounding seabed is covered by sea grass that is home to various species of wrasse (damselfish, peacock wrasse, and green wrasse). Numerous species of pelagic fish can be seen farther out to sea, including bluefin tuna, greater amberjack, mahi-mahi, and sometimes even swordfish. During the return, the walls and rocks are covered with sea urchins, sea stars, hair mushroom coral, and sponges, including Agela oroides and Cacospongia spp., while the brilliant colours of orange coral and myriapora truncata (fake coral) can be found in the more shady areas. 

area

Aegadian Islands

itinerary

PUNTA OMO MORTO

position

37° 59,550’ longitude - 012° 01,645’ latitude

license

PADI - advanced | FIPSAS - second level AR | FIPSAS - third level AR | SSI - advanced

Type of route

Rock

dive start

only from a boat

Maximum depth

30

path length

100-150

nature of the bottom

Rock

Current probability

low

orientation

Easy

level of difficulty

Easy

Type of interest

Naturalistic

Flora and fauna

Posidonia | Peyssonnelia Red Alga | Other flora | Stone Bass | Other hole fishes | Octopus | Shellfishes | Soft Corals | Sponges

route subject to authorization

yes

itinerary illustration

comments
Gallery
<?=<pre> Doctrine_Collection data : Array( en : Object(GacImmersioniItinerariTranslation) it : Object(GacImmersioniItinerariTranslation) ) </pre>[en]->titolo?>
<?=<pre> Doctrine_Collection data : Array( en : Object(GacImmersioniItinerariTranslation) it : Object(GacImmersioniItinerariTranslation) ) </pre>[en]->titolo?>