Location: At only 100 km from the Saharan town of Tarfaya (Cape Juby), the area extends through the south of Fuerteventura, covering El Banquete submarine bottom within its boundaries, it is of great fishing interest and a good part of the most meridional sector of the Island flanks.
Area characteristics: The peculiar geomorphological characteristics and the high productivity of the area allow the coexistence of coastal species with other typically oceanic ones, which approach the coasts looking for the plentiful food. Thus, several singular species of deep habit cetaceans, such as beaked whales, sperm whales, and pilot whales, can be easily observed in waters at the southeast of Fuerteventura, together with important groups of bottle nose dolphins, striped dolphins, and in certain times of the year, spotted dolphins from the Atlantic.
The vegetation is very important, and the sea grass “meadows” of Cymodocea nodosa of the Sotavento Beach stand out for their size and their good level of preservation, as well as the algae fields of the rocky bottoms. It is also an important place of transit in tuna migration. It is worth mentioning that the Cueva de Lobos, in the windward side, was one of the last shelters of the monk seal (Monachus monachus) before its extinction in the islands by mid of the 20th century. Today this habitat complies with the requirement for a possible reintroduction of the species in Canary Islands.
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