Introduction

Welcome to the Centre Mediterrani d’Investigacions Marines i Ambientals (CMIMA) (Mediterranean Marine and Environmental Centre), the largest Oceanographic Center of Spain and The Mediterranean. The Centre belongs to the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) (Scientific Research Council) and provides its services to the Institut de Ciències del Mar de Barcelona (ICM) (Institute of Marine Sciences) and the Unitat de Tecnologia Marina (UTM) (Marine Technology Unit). The CMIMA, officially opened in Autumn 2001, was born from the original scientific and structural nuclei of the Institut Ciències del Mar (ICM), established in 1951 with the name Instituto Investigaciones Pesqueras.

The Institut de Ciències del Mar de Barcelona, through its more than 50 years of existence, it has never ceased to expand and advance. The Institute’s protracted experience and its human resources, with a staff of more than 150 members, which covers most of the fields of oceanographic research (physical and chemical oceanography, geology and biology). The goal of the ICM consists on furthering and expanding our scientific understanding of the seas and oceans and discovering their role in the context of our planet. As a governmental research Centre, it also has the task of reporting and disseminating the knowledge generated by its activities.

The Unitat de Tecnologia Marina (UTM) was created by the CSIC in 2000 to take charge of marine technology research and to provide logistical support for oceanographic research. The UTM is responsible for the technical management of some of our country’s major oceanographic facilities, such as the Oceanographic Research Vessel Hespérides and Spain’s “Juan Carlos I” Antarctic Base.