Fondali di Capo Zafferano

The seabeds of Capo Zafferano are located off the northeastern coast of Sicily. They are characterized by an extensive meadow of Posidonia oceanica, which extends to a depth of approximately 30-32 meters in the northern part (Capo Zafferano) and about 20 meters in the southern part. There are also other types of meadows, mainly on seagrass beds and rocky substrates. Despite anthropogenic pressure, especially during the summer due to increased recreational boating activities and anchoring, the meadow demonstrates remarkable resilience and regenerative capacity. In the coralligenous rocky walls, there are interesting forests of cnidarians such as yellow gorgonian, red gorgonian, black coral, and false black coral. The wall population is rich with madreporaries (yellow madrepora and yellow cluster anemone), porifera (red sponge, oyster sponge and the Axinella cannabina), bryozoans and encrusting calcareous algae. The site is representative of the southern Tyrrhenian coast with well-structured and significant habitats.