Our Map

This is a platform that plunges into the literacy about the Portuguese sea, taking as a reference the aggregated knowledge from the SOPHIA Project.

The naming of the project SOPHIA was chosen as a tribute to the great Portuguese poet Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen, whose poems so often inspire us to think about the sea - “mar sonoro, mar sem fundo, mar sem fim” (sonorous sea, bottomless sea, endless sea).

To love and protect we need to know. It has become clear that all life on Earth, including our own survival, depends on the sea. This webpage presents itself as a facilitator and a promoter of communication amongst scientists and the civil society around multiple areas of knowledge on marine ecosystems under the sovereignty of Portugal. Our navigation route was designed after the map of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD).

Take one example: the ecology of deep sea ecosystems, such as seamounts or volcanic chimneys, is still a topic where the unknown is widely greater than what is already known. And what is known is very little. Probably, in some cases the biodiversity of these ecosystems has been hopelessly damaged. There is still, probably, a multitude of species waiting to be discovered by science. It is true that nowadays the unknown is a challenge to overcome at the pace of Portugal’s Atlantic vocation and taking into account the juridical occupation under the law of the seas which is required to ensure the Portuguese sovereignty for generations to come. Challenges like these are hereby gathered and reported. This task, with the scientific and technical certification, is for everybody. We are called upon to enter this change of tide and plunge into knowledge on the Portuguese sea.