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The kingdom of Neptune: from myth to the sea

Last month we invited our readers to circumnavigate our island. An awesome experience that the visitor must absolutely live. The coast of the island of Ischia in fact is the perfect synthesis of a unique geological evolution.

The vegetation that covers it is varied and reflects the spirit of this land that alternates between moments of splendor and prosperity with green mantles of Pinus pinaster to the northwest coast, austerity and rigor of the wild southern coast. The wind and the sea then, secular artists have worked to make it more impressive. It stands out as the stone of the elephant or the ship of Ulysses.
Even just a coast so rich enough to understand the importance of a Marine Park that protects and enhances its valuable characteristics. But if once one has enjoyed the coast we dive into the blue waters of the sea of Ischia will come out convinced that this is a common heritage to be protected. Thus was born the "Neptune’s Kingdom", the marine park of the islands of Ischia and Procida, where Neptune is the eighth and farthest planet from the Sun but also the God of the Sea, what better tribute to the mythology that historically accompanied the evolution of this island?
The richness of the sea of AMP "Regno di Nettuno" is realized by observing the perimeter of the area on a map. The first thing that emerges is a "strange" extension to the north, two miles wide, which extends towards the town of Cuma, on the mainland for a distance of eight miles.
That strangeness, which corresponds to the so-called canyon of Cuma, makes the Neptune's Kingdom the area unique in the Mediterranean Sea.
In fact the extension extends the protection of the AMP to the incredible wealth in cetaceans (dolphins, whales, sperm whales...) of this stretch of the Mediterranean Sea.
The other emergency that is enclosed by the boundaries of the AMP is an extraordinary oceanic Posidonia, which for tens of square kilometers surrounds the islands, particularly with regard to Ischia.
The Regno di Nettuno owes its wealth to its particular position on a very important boundary that divides the area north of the Mediterranean to the south one.
It is a climatic boundary, which puts the Flegreo archipelago to the extreme north of the expansion of the species that colonize the southern Mediterranean and the far south of the expansion of the species that prefer colder climates.
The result is the simultaneous presence of all species in the Mediterranean, a feature that convinced Anton Dohrn, German scholar friend of Charles Darwin to establish between Naples and Ischia his studies and to build the first institute of marine biology in the world in 1872 still one of the most prestigious. The seabed and the sea of AMP “Regno di Nettuno” includes an absolute variety of environments, in particular areas of coral, with amazing formations of red algae, mother-of-pearl and corals.
Characteristic of Ischia is the false black coral "Gerardia Savalia" set along the ridge of the tower of S. Angelo where there are also many caves.
The waters of the Kingdom are attended by all fish species typical of Mediterranean rocky areas, but also at the center of migration of squid and of all species of blue fish and small Tuna.
The area to the west, toward the island of Ventotene and the area to the north is the Mediterranean areas that have the highest density of marine mammals, with the simultaneous presence of all the species that live in this sea. Their density is likely to lead to a regulation, which restricts the frequent injuries of whales, sperm whales and dolphins by ships and boats passing at high speed.
The canyon of Cuma, from 200 to 800 meters deep, is home to the last colonies of common dolphins in the Mediterranean, a rare species at risk of extinction, and other "giants of the sea" such as sperm whales up to 18 meters long and fin whales that exceed twenty meters .
As written by Australian Sergio Bambarén, engaged in ecologist battles for the Protection of the seas, "the waters of Ischia preserve a particular biodiversity, an important habitat for marine mammals in the Mediterranean Sea.”