Protected Marine Area of Torre Guaceto

Location

Torre Guaceto is located about 17 kilometres north of Brindisi in Puglia, along the coastline stretching between Penna Grossa to the north and Apani to the south.

Why visit

A Marine Area and a Nature Reserve on land come together within this complex, a variety of environments that range from wetlands to 15-metre high sand dunes and a rich underwater seascape: Torre Guaceto really is a jewel on the Adriatic with an enormous natural treasure.

Description

Gaw Sit, meaning “freshwater place”, is an ancient name which reveals an important past when the sea had a role to play in defence. The marine environment of Torre Guaceto has an enormous variety of bio-diversity: the coast to the south of the imposing Aragonese tower is shallow and sandy, while to the north-east it features high dunes and Mediterranean maquis.

The central and southern sector has an area of wetlands, fed by spring water and dominated by cane thickets, an ideal destination for birdwatchers who can admire numerous migratory and resident aquatic birds. The greatest riches in the area, however, live beneath the water surface: in the points where the sea-bed is rocky, there is a dense forest of Cystoseira algae. You can admire many types of brown algae including the Coda Pavonia and green seaweed, like sea lettuce and the Acetabularia acetabulum as well as sponges and sea anemoni. Many other creatures have made it their home, like sea urchins, starfish, octopus, white bream and scorpion fish. Vast meadows of Posidonia (a sea plant with long leaves) can be seen on the sandy sea bed near the Apani cliffs. Not many fish live in this type of sea-bed, except for rays or sole, that camouflage themselves in the sandy bottom to escape their predators, and the weeverfish, feared because of the painful sting it can inflict. A series of crevices have formed in front of the tower leading out to sea, where coloured sponges, seaweeds and sedentary worms have formed colonies, as well as lobsters, octopi, moray eels and conger eels, who make their den here. Another resident in the waters of the Marine Reserve is the rare Caretta caretta turtle.