This project is based on the coordination and development of the "Generalitat Valenciana's protocol for attending to strandings", which involves close collaboration between the University of Valencia (UV), the Generalitat Valenciana (GVA) and the Oceanogràfic Foundation (FO), as has been the case in recent years. Attention to sea turtle nesting events has been coordinated within the same protocol and between the same institutions.

Promote the CEPTU flagship role (cetaceans and sea turtles) to raise awareness among EU citizens on the shared Mediterranean Sea environment, common heritage of human culture and natural marine resources values. Supports the Biodiversity Strategy 2030 by contributing to the EU-wide network of offshore N2000 sites identification. Contributes to Marine Strategy Framework Directive, since it aims at setting a strategic approach to integrate assessment of D1 elements (CEPTU) and D10 (marine litter).

The tanning industry faces serious environmental problems due to wastewater contaminated with heavy metals, sulfides and toxic substances. These effluents threaten ecosystems, affecting groundwater, rivers and agricultural soils, as well as human health. To mitigate pollution, advanced technologies and environmentally friendly chemical alternatives are needed, but this presents challenges, especially in low-income countries. The presence of carcinogenic hexavalent chromium (Cr6+) is a concern, and bioremediation using bacteria is proposed as a solution. The project is based on samples from a Tunisian tannery, where bacterial strains with some bioremediation capacity were isolated, however, the samples contain a large proportion of bacteria that cannot be culutred in laboratory. The main focus is to understand the metabolic pathways in uncultured microbes in order to design effective bioremediation strategies and to study microbial interactions in this environment. Another objective is to study interactions between microbes in this unique ecosystem through single cell genomics, which may serve to enhance bio-remediation capacity.

Soft-bodied marine animals, such as nudibranchs, use bioactive compounds as a defense against predators. In our previous work we have discovered that these compounds in nudibranch Doriopsilla fulva can be produced by bacterial symbionts rather than the animals themselves. These symbiotic bacteria represent new non-culturable bacterial lineages that produce bioactive molecules. The Nudi-Symb project seeks to explore more nudibranch species. We will use novel techniques to study individual bacterial cells, sequence the nudibranch genome and use transcriptomics to understand the interaction between these animals and their symbiotic bacteria, with the aim of contributing to the development of new medical drugs.