A sailor on land?

The Pamplona people go to Zarautz, to Donostia many times... and when I was little I used to go with my family. Especially in Zarautz, I began to chase the corners and the crabs in the rocks. We also went many times to the campsite Santa Elena de Mutriku and so I got my hobby. As a young boy, I began to dive with my father in Menorca and then decided to study Ciencias del Mar. I went to Gran Canaria and I was there five years learning and swimming under the water.

There are beautiful sites in the Canary Islands, but since I had very little money at my time as a student, I rarely went to those places with oxygen bottles. Then yes, I've come back many times to these spectacular places. Especially Iron is a very nice place to dive. It's near Africa, and there's an outcrop right there. The calm winds lead the surface water into the Atlantic and to compensate for water shortages rise the waters of the seabed with a lot of nutrients and oxygen.

As a result, biomass is usually high in these places. Usually in these cases there are many fish of a few species. In addition, due to its tropical nature, many species of tropical origin can be found in the Canary Islands.

In general, human beings know more about space than about the seabed. A lot of research is being done near the coast, but penetration into the bottom of the sea is technologically very difficult.

Did he come back from there and dedicate himself to the research?

I started with a scholarship at the headquarters of the AZTI technology center in Sukarrieta, conducting research on the sea and food. For two or three years, I studied tropical tunas. Most of the time I did it as an office, but I had the opportunity to be in a tuna boat in Côte d'Ivoire for two months. I went to investigate the consequences of the FAD catch system on tuna fishing.

What is that?

A large platform is thrown into the sea for the fish to gather under it. When a large amount is collected, the net is thrown out and all the specimens that are there are trapped. Animals of different species are caught, even adults and too small, so in the long term it is very harmful.

For the rest of the time, I was reporting in Sukarrieta, in the middle of the island of Txatxarramendi. We collected observer data and collaborated with the Spanish Institute of Oceanography. This information was subsequently used, for example, to establish fishing quotas.

Is bluefin tuna about to disappear?

Bluefin tuna is paid very expensive and run over is always profitable. In Japan they always buy it at very high prices. That is why it does not happen as with other types of fish, that is, it is no longer profitable to catch more because the market is full. If this continues, bluefin tuna will have a very black future.

From Sukarrieta you went to Blanes to make the thesis. What was their theme?

I worked as a scholarship fellow at the CSIC Advanced Studies Center, Blanes. The effects of climate change focused on the fish species on the coast. I carefully studied the relationship between the accumulation of fish and the temperature of the squid.

And what conclusions did you draw?

I clearly saw that there are very different views on climate change. Some people are very critical and say that it is an assembly and that they take this issue as an excuse for making decisions. The first driver of the idea was Margaret Thatcher, who says she was interested in boosting nuclear power instead of traditional fuels. Other researchers say it's a natural process and we're just accelerating. It's very hard to know.

I didn't finish the thesis, but I got the advanced research title. I didn't feel very comfortable in this environment, because often the research work is related to subsidies, and also, I didn't have a direct relationship with society. Therefore, when I had the opportunity to enter the newly created Mutriku School of Aquaculture, I had no doubt.

At ease in teaching?

A lot. I was there for five years. It was a higher cycle, with students of all ages. I was very good. People had great desires. We had a lot of relationship with the fishermen, we were going to take samples, we got into the water… great.

So, I overcame the oppositions here in Navarra, and after walking around Bera and Villava, I came to the Barañain Institute four years ago. I feel more comfortable than researching at the teachers' office, knowing that many of these studies will help to enrich some entrepreneurs. My job is very close and I love working with young people.

What is it bioaniztasuna.com?

The main objective of this website is to make known the biodiversity of the seas and oceans of planet Earth. Through it, I try to unite my hobby and my teaching. I've been making photos and videos for many years, but everything was in the closet. I started preparing short videos and didactic activities to solve this material, at first to share it with the students and now online, with everyone. My intention is to make our natural heritage known to the public in the waters of the Gulf of Bizkaia, so that we can all value it and defend it.

For example, there are names of fish, molluscs and crustaceans from the Cantabrian River in Basque, Spanish and Latin, as well as photos, videos and other materials that can be used in the ESO and Bachillerato. You can see a 17-minute documentary video of sea turtles, recorded in Cape Verde. There are very few materials in Basque. Many times we have problems getting quality materials.

Where have you been in summer?

In the Azores and the Alps, by cycling fossils. Every year, I'm going to look for fossils with the students, and they have a great time. In Sarriguren, in the region of Pamplona, I found the teeth of the sharks. In the near future, I will also put in geology related activities bioaniztasuna.com.

Where are the Best Places to Dive in Euskal Herria?

There are many: Elantxobe, Mutriku, Hondarribia… everyone has their place. Walking along the rivers is also impressive. In the Pyrenees I have swam with half-meter trouts and in Endarlatsa I have seen nests made with lobsters. The fans and lobsters look very little, and the shark from here, from the Momar family, is very close to the coast, but I haven't yet managed to record.

What about the best and worst places in the world?

In general, those who have not had people, and in many cases are spaces taken by the military. There are islands and places that were closed in their day by the military, and as a result they have remained in perfect condition. Perhaps it is one of the few good things the military has done.

However, what you find in the sea is not only a result of the management that the surrounding territories do. There are currents and it is very common for the rubbish of another territory to reach the land of those who do good management. Fish are also moving, and that is why fisheries management is very difficult, as many territories have to be agreed upon.

Beautiful places like the Red Sea and the Azores. I go often. Last year I spent four months in Indonesia, Papua. Until recently most of the trash they had was organic, now they have a lot of plastics and everything, but they don't have a plan to manage the waste. You start swimming with sea turtles and suddenly you see how they devour plastic or lump. Its inhabitants, especially children, transport the trash on carts to the shore of the sea and throw the waste into the sea. I went there for the first time eight years ago, and only then did they have traditional wooden boats. They now have motorized fibres vessels, to the detriment of the native fauna. I saw the turtles open from the top down, for example.

What do you think of the management of the sea here?

Good management is very difficult. There are many and very different interests and always economic interests. In the Basque Country we have very well located places, not because of good management, but because of the geographical difficulty of filling them with houses. In Girona, for example, the one below Lloret de Mar is regrettable, because the land is very flat and they have had the opportunity to make apartments in it. In the north they have Cape Creus, of granite, and as it has been very difficult to build, it has been preserved perfectly. Here are beautiful sites, the coast of Algorri in the area of Zumaia, between Sakoneta, Deba and Mutriku, Elantxobe, Hondarribia… The environment of Jaizkibel is unique. Big cities, along with San Sebastian and Irun, do not harm him and trawlers cannot fish. The Jaizkibel problem was the construction of an external superport. He is now standing by the crisis, but to know what they are going to do in the future. The outside superport would lead to the death of the natural area of Jaizkibel. We have treasures here and we must value them and defend them because they are our natural heritage.

Do you walk underwater in apnea or with oxygen cylinders?

Usually in apnea. Sometimes I don't take the camera, to enjoy the sea on my own. When you swim in the apnea, like you do a little sport, you feel really good, but going with bottles gives you more chance to go down and see, for example, how an octopus has started playing with you.

At the beginning of the last century, Aniceto Petit, a candidate for the council, proposed a project: to bring the sea to Pamplona. What do you think?

That would be OK! Where would we put it? If there were to be a sea here, it would be the best city in the world, well, if we could improve the climate a little bit. Anyway, it would change. They'd start building housing everywhere and it'd run out!