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Tracking the whales
INVESTIGATORS tracking fin whales off the coasts of Denia and Javea believe the animals could be present in our waters all year round and not just during the summer as previously thought.
They have spotted more than 150 of these creatures, the second largest animal in the world, in the Marina Alta over the last two years.
According to spokespeople for the project entitled The cape of the fin whales: study of the presence and origin of the fin whale on the shelf and slope of Cabo de la Nao and Ibiza Channel, although most sightings take place in June and July, acoustic monitoring suggest that they also visit the Valencian coast as early as April and as late as October.
The project was launched in 2021 to analyse the populations of fin whales that migrate through the Cabo de la Nao and track their destinations.
As well as providing information about their movements and migration routes, the investigation also aims to evaluate potential threats to the whales, mainly maritime traffic and submarine noise, in a bid to help protect the species.
PEGO Town Hall has installed two new ‘miniecoparks’ in the town.
The recycling points are located in Plaça Maria Cambrils and outside the CMFPA Perez Ramos building.
They bring the total number of miniecoparks up to eight, in addition to the previous ones in Carrer Jaume I, Passeig Cervantes, Plaça Antic Regne, outside the health centre and Rosalia Bondia school, and in the Calvari area.
The panels feature different compartments to separate household items that cannot be recycled normally, such as lightbulbs, batteries, printer ink cartridges and small electric and electronic devices.
According to the municipal cleaning department, batteries are one of the types of refuse most recycled by Pego residents, with around 10 kilos collected every two weeks.
The same sources add that although there is still room for improvement, general recycling figures in the town are higher than the regional average.
For instance, paper and cardboard recycling figures average 20.6 kilos per resident compared to the Valencian average of 16.2 kilos, and for glass the local average is 22.9 kilos compared to the 17 kilos for the Valencia Region.
THE rains that fell throughout Alicante Province last week were welcomed as a vital lifeline for most crops and forest areas after an unseasonably dry and warm winter and spring.
However, not everyone was happy, as cherry producers in certain areas reported severe damages to the fruit caused by the late rains that also arrived too late for cereal growers.
This is big blow for cherry farmers in the Alto Vinalopo district, as this year was looking up due to unbeatable con- ditions in terms of the quality, quantity and size of the fruit.
In fact, cherry farmers are bearing the brunt of the irregular weather in Alicante, with production dwindling over the last five years and the drought conditions registered in recent months leading to a total lack of production in some areas.
They are also suffering ris-
