The Nav & Co app allows boaters to discover information on underwater plants and animals. The goal is to educate users about their protection. Good news for the seaweed beds at Iroise Marine Natural Park.
The Iroise Marine Nature Park is home to fragile underwater lawns Eels: the bed of eels.
In these Breton meadows we can find up to 500 species. This habitat is the habitat of, for example, squid that lay its eggs there, bream or seahorse. It also serves as a nursery or shelter for smaller species or juveniles that are protected there from waves, current and predators.
Eelgrass bed
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© Y.Souche / OFB
Because eel is a plant that grows in berries, protected from extreme swells, on sandy bottoms, ranging from 3 to 10 meters deep. Ideal conditions for these species but also for sailors looking for a quiet berth … however, boat moorings cause havoc in these particularly fragile meadows.
To reduce the effect of leaf and root rupture, it is necessary to anchor outside the seaweed bottoms, and above all, preferably anchorage on a pontoon in organized mooring areas.
Application to notify and direct vessels
To define areas of eel grass ponds and thus avoid installing there, a free application was developed: Nav & Co. This program allows boaters to position themselves on SHOM marine charts while discovering information on underwater plants and animals.
By following these tips, boaters preserve a rare habitat and protect species valuable for ecosystems such as human activities such as diving, recreational fishing and professional fishing.
Brittany, the first area covered by the app
The Nav & Co app, developed by the French Office for Biodiversity and Tattoos, was released in June 2020 for the Breton Navigation. In Season 1, at least 7,621 people have used the app. Very encouraging numbers.
In August 2020 the application is also enriched Augmented Reality.
Since then, Nav & Co has deployed in the navigation zone from Mont-Saint-Michel to Croisic in order to test boats’ interest in this new instrument. National development is now envisaged.
It is available for free at Android Store
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