Marine Park

Dive Magazine reports on plans for a marine park in the North coast supported by the Malta Marine Foundation:

An underwater marine park for divers, enclosed in a netted area the size of a football pitch, may be constructed off the coast of Malta if plans are given the go-ahead by the country's government. A group of investors who include a fish farm operator, a hotelier and members of the diving community, said the proposed Marine Adventure Park would include two fish-farm-style netted enclosures, one 30m deep and one at 8m.

Situated 1km off Ras il-Griebeg, outside Mellieha Bay, the park would feature a selection of captive marine life and artificial reef structures, including a copy of a Roman shipwreck and a megalithic temple. Fish will either be hand-fed or fed from permanent feeding stations, according to a Marine Adventure Park project spokesperson.

'Coming face to face with these creatures of the deep is becoming a very rare encounter,' said a Marine Adventure Park project spokesperson. 'In the Atlantis enclosure, sunfish, rays, groupers, sea hounds, dogfish, angel shark, tuna and other pelagic and bottom-dwelling fish will be in the list of attractions.' A sandy area with isolated patches of seagrass has been chosen as a possible location for the large netted enclosures...