Formentera bemoans delayed start of surveillance and help service for anchoring ships

The Formentera Council has called on the Palma administration's ministry of environment for an immediate rollout of a help and advisory service for crews of ships anchoring in the Ses Salines natural park, Es Caló and Cala Saona.

Formentera's head of environment, Daisee Aguilera, described this weekend's monitoring of more than 400 watercraft anchored across a handful of areas. A summary:
Between Pas des Trucadors (Ses Illetes) and La Savina port, roughly 250 boats were anchored.
Espalmador buoy field was at full capacity (57 boats on 57 buoys).
Es Caló de s'Oli was at capacity as well (15 boats).
Some 84 ships dropped anchor at Cala Saona while another seven were anchored at Es Caló.

Councillor Aguilera said the Council's call for a speedy activation of surveillance services was “absolutely justified” in view of “the sheer number of ships that are visiting the island”. She went on to say that this weekend, in both Ses Salines and Cala Saona, several ships were spotted dropping anchor on posidonia meadows.

While there is currently active surveillance of all watercraft parked across the buoy field, any ships that anchor away from the field in the rest of Ses Salines—as well as Es Caló and Cala Saona—remain unsupervised. The Council is eager to see the rollout of the anchoring assistance and advisory service, which commands 14 surveillance boats whose crews are responsible for safeguarding the UNESCO-recognised plant. As Aguilera summed up, “ratcheting up the surveillance doesn't do any good if it comes too late”.

Nevertheless, the councillor's message for rule-abiding visitors to Formentera's shores was one of thanks. “With each passing year, people—and ship captains—become more sensitive to our cause and more inclined to heed the ban on anchoring on posidonia meadows”.