Sunscreen chemicals, fish-farm effluent and shipping traffic all converge on the same narrow strip of Mediterranean coastline each summer. Under a microscope, a drop of neutral red dye stains the blood cells of a mussel. Whether the dye stays put or leaks out tells researchers something about the health of the animal, and by extension the water it lives in.
That was one of the biomarker techniques sixteen students learned to run themselves during a week-long training on marine pollution and coastal health.
From 18 to 22 May 2026, the University of the Balearic Islands hosted the EUNICoast training "Marine pollution and coastal health", a five-day, fully in-person programme bringing together sixteen master's and PhD students from six partner universities, taught by lecturers from marine biology, ecotoxicology and biomedical science.
Students spent two full days sampling seawater, sediments, seagrass and mussels, then ran their own laboratory assays for microplastics, biomarkers and toxicity.
The closing days turned outward, with visits to an aquaculture research laboratory and the fishermen's association in Port d'Andratx, ending in a roundtable between researchers and stakeholders.
The students rated their experience, giving the training 4.7 out of 5 for overall satisfaction and 9.3 out of 10 for likelihood to recommend it. A participant from the University of the Azores said the course had offered "new methodologies and methods that can be applied to the study of organisms in toxicology, and the knowledge to recognise specific traits." A participant from the University of Sassari said the training let them "learn cutting-edge biomonitoring and ecotoxicity techniques" alongside the One Health framework, which links human, animal and environmental health. A participant from the University of the Antilles added that the week had "truly unlocked" their confidence in speaking English with peers from other countries. Among the ten lecturers who responded, eight rated their satisfaction at the maximum, and seven reported new collaborations already forming, particularly around emerging contaminants, biomonitoring methods and seagrass contamination research.
Delivered under the Education commission, the training feeds into EUNICoast's Hub 4 on health, biodiversity protection and nature-based solutions, ahead of the alliance's planned Flagship Coastal-Sea Educational Activities, its future programme of joint coastal and marine training.
Partners intend the training to run every year, feeding EUNICoast's Hub 4 work on health and biodiversity. The host institution and date for the next edition have yet to be confirmed.
The course was hosted by the University of the Balearic Islands (Spain), with students and lecturers from partner universities including Université Le Havre Normandie (France), West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin (Poland), University of the Antilles (France), University of Sassari (Italy), University of the Azores (Portugal), University of Dubrovnik (Croatia) and University of Patras (Greece).
