Author: Manuela Coci

On September 17, 2026, the local branch of the Biodiversity Gateway was inaugurated at the Fano Marine Center, along with the Center’s new research laboratories. The initiative is part of the activities of the National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC) and is funded by the European Union under the NextGenerationEU program and the Ministry of University and Research.
The Biodiversity Gateway is designed as a permanent space open to the public, focused on the protection and enhancement of marine biodiversity. Project coordination is led by the National Research Council (CNR) through the joint action of the Institute for Marine Biological Resources and Biotechnology (CNR-IRBIM) and the Institute of Marine Sciences (CNR-ISMAR).
IRBIM plays a key role in the scientific management of the Fano facility and in directing AlienLab—a new educational and multimedia facility equipped with an immersive reality room dedicated to the study and public outreach on marine alien species, integrated into the offerings of the DIDAMAR hub.

The ceremony opened with institutional greetings delivered by the Rector of the University of Bologna Giovanni Molari, the President of the CNR Andrea Lenzi, the Mayor of Fano Luca Serfilippi, the President of the Anton Dohrn Zoological Station Roberto Bassi, the President of the NBFC Luigi Fiorentino, the Research Delegate of the Polytechnic University of Marche Francesco Regoli, the Deputy Vice-Rector of the University of Urbino Vieri Fusi, the Vice President of the Marche Region Enrico Rossi, and the Director of GALPA Marche Uriano Meconi.. The program of technical presentations continued with scientific talks by Federica Foglini (CNR-ISMAR), focusing on the Gateway’s digital structure; Sarah Pizzini (CNR-IRBIM and FMC), covering the content of the Fano facility and AlienLab; and Federico Foschi (University of Bologna), Sole Project Manager for the realization of the laboratories.. The event concluded with the ribbon-cutting ceremony and a guided tour of the new laboratories and the immersive reality room for officials and the public.. Here the link to the event program

ANCONA – On Monday, August 24, the new oceanographic buoy DORY was deployed, installed one mile off the coast near the Portonovo Tower and positioned at a depth of approximately 12 meters. The coordinates are Latitude 43.567830° N, Longitude 13.599020° E. The project stems from an intense scientific collaboration between the CNR-IRBIM of Ancona and the Department of Life and Environmental Sciences of the Marche Polytechnic University (UNIVPM), with contributions from the Municipality of Ancona, the Marche Region, and the Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of Umbria and Marche (IZSUM). The buoy was manufactured in Italy, weighs around one ton, and is valued at over 180,000 euros funded by the Marche Region. This equipment operates in synergy with UNIVPM’s recent Portonovo Lab. The buoy represents the fourth node of the Marche coastal monitoring network managed by CNR-IRBIM, joining those already active in Fano, Senigallia, and Porto Recanati.
Every 20 minutes, DORY records and transmits a wide range of crucial met-ocean data: marine parameters such as water temperature, salinity, conductivity, density, dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll, wave and current speed and direction; meteorological parameters such as wind speed and direction, humidity, and atmospheric conditions. The buoy is also equipped with a high-definition video camera for continuous acquisition of images and video of the area.
The need for this infrastructure emerged from the Technical Committee established by the Municipality of Ancona to address the crisis facing Portonovo’s wild mussels (mosciolo selvatico). In a summer marked by sharp temperature increases in Adriatic waters, DORY will make it possible to correlate the health status of mussels and biodiversity with the physical and chemical variations of the water. The deployment and activation of the buoy involved the joint commitment of technical and scientific staff from CNR-IRBIM and UNIVPM, in particular the technical head of IRBIM Observational Infrastructures, engineer Pierluigi Penna, and IRBIM colleagues Fabrizio Moro and Giordano Giuliani.
CNR-IRBIM Director Gian Marco Luna stated in this regard: “We are facing a paradigm shift: we must move from a reactive to a proactive approach, monitoring parameters to anticipate emergencies rather than chasing them.” The Rector of the Polytechnic University of Marche, Enrico Quagliarini, emphasized that: “Research and monitoring are the keywords of this historic day for the region. This synergy between institutions, the University, and the CNR will provide concrete responses to the effects of climate change.” The Mayor of Ancona, Daniele Silvetti, also expressed satisfaction with the deployment of the buoy: “This was a primary goal we set for ourselves to protect our wild mussel (mosciolo selvatico). DORY is the concrete result of collaboration between the scientific community and the local administration.”
One of the main innovations of the DORY buoy concerns data transparency and accessibility. The measurements will not be reserved solely for researchers, but will be accessible in real time to all citizens, boaters, and beachgoers by connecting to the CNR-IRBIM web portal under the “Meteo-Marine Observation Network” section. As highlighted by Prof. Francesco Regoli, Director of the Department of Life and Environmental Sciences at UNIVPM, public access to environmental data represents a fundamental step not only for scientific research, but also for raising collective awareness toward the protection of our sea.

The summer of 2026 recorded extreme climate conditions, with repeated and prolonged heatwaves that brought record temperatures not only to the atmosphere, but also to the depths of our seas. The Mediterranean Sea is facing a severe thermal crisis, whose ecological and economic consequences require constant monitoring and strategies based on solid scientific evidence.

To track the evolution of these phenomena and understand their long-term dynamics, the work of the Institute for Biological Resources and Marine Biotechnologies of the National Research Council (CNR-IRBIM) is crucial. Through measurement infrastructure and observation networks distributed across the region—such as the oceanographic buoy con located off the coast of Senigallia—CNR-IRBIM researchers, including engineer Pierluigi Penna, constantly monitor the thermal response of the sea. These instruments allow for measuring the inertia with which the sea absorbs atmospheric heat and cross-referencing local data with European models from the Copernicus program, providing an essential knowledge base for assessing the impacts of global warming.

Analyses show that the continuous rise in sea temperatures is profoundly altering the balance of the Mediterranean. In the Adriatic Sea, water temperatures neared 28 °C in June, exceeded 29 °C in July off the coast of Fano, and reached a record threshold of 30 °C in mid-August off Senigallia—a value not recorded since 2012. This warming generates a major ecological impact: die-offs of species unable to move are being recorded, along with mass migrations of fish toward deeper or cooler areas and a progressive colonization by alien species of tropical origin.

On the impact of heatwaves and ocean management, the Director of CNR-IRBIM, Gian Marco Luna, emphasized the imperative need to place scientific research at the center of every political and economic decision: “The ecological transition cannot be addressed without deep scientific knowledge of the Mediterranean Sea. Only through data, long-term monitoring, and research will it be possible to sustainably manage marine resources, understand the effects of climate change, and guide the blue economy toward a more resilient and competitive future. Science must be the compass that allows the challenges of climate change to be transformed into opportunities for sustainable development for the sea, fisheries, and coastal communities.