Nature Walk, Beach, & Fish Auction (Day 2)

 

Friday was the beginning of all our oceanic activities for the rest of the weekend. At 9:30 am we departed towards San Pedro del Pinatar which is where the Aquaculture Center is located. In fact the actual name is “The Educational Center at Parque Regional de las Salinas y Arenales de San Pedro del Pinatar”. We arrived early which obviously meant we had to wait before we could enter the center. This provided for some great bonding time. Not many people knew other people in our class which made getting to know each other that much easier. Inside the center we learned about the island of San Pedro itself and how it shaped out to the design it is today. Additionally we learned about the salt production which is a HUGE part of the culture in the Province of Alicante. We actually passed a lot of salt mounds near the lagoons where the salt is extracted from and either thrown back into the ocean on the other side of the island or sold for consumption. 

Various Types of Salt

 After we finished up learning about what animals live in the area, why they live there, and other findings within the vicinity, we took a nature walk through the Natural Park to the beach of San Pedro. 

Nature Walk

 Our teacher, Monica, warned us about “cruisers” who are gay people looking for other gay people to mingle with purposely on a typical trip to the beach.  Keep in mind, this beach had about 6 people total on it (extremely secluded beach). Half of us performed a quick change into our bathing suits in order to swim in the Mediterranean. 

Changing on the Beach

Those of us of swam along with those who stayed on shore!

Mud Covered People

 This was my first time swimming in an ocean other than the Pacific or Atlantic. The temperature was perfect: not too warm and not too cold. There was nothing special on the beach except things we saw back at the nature center such as brown hairy balls, Neptune grass, shark egg casings, and other things. After the beach and nature walk, we headed back to the hotel for some lunch. On our way back to the hotel we saw people walking around completely covered in smelly mud called “Baño de lodo”. This mud supposedly helps cure rheumatism and treats the skin well. Around 5:30 pm my group was lucky enough to visit the live fish auction in Santa Pola. The fish for sale are fish caught the same exact day. No one can go into the auction and bid on a fish. One must be a representative of a restaurant, fishery or just registered as a bidder. This was pretty cool to see. A man in a booth would classify each box of fish within 2 seconds. Then the box traveled down a conveyer belt to the weigh/bid point. Then bidders can press a button on their handheld device when they feel as though the price has dropped enough. All kinds of fish were caught including shrimp, squid, stingray, eel, and other types of fish. After the fish auction we took a tour of a retired fishing boat and walked through the aquaculture center of San Pedro.  At the mini aquarium we got to see how they have a system which filters the ocean water from any dirt/bacteria and drains the clean water right back into the ocean. Soon it was time to head back to Torrevieja for dinner. After dinner, we concluded the night with a fun night out at a Norwegian bar. We had a full day ahead of us so we made sure we got ample amount of sleep!