Fernando Garfella Palmer (9 August 1989 – 9 August 2020) was a Spanish documentary filmmaker, known for his documentaries about the marine life of the

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago forms a Provinces of Spain, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain, ...

and for his collaboration with the

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

Proactiva Open Arms Proactiva Open Arms (POA) is a Spanish NGO devoted to search and rescue (SAR) at sea. Set up in October 2015, it carried out its first rescue action that same month from its base on the Greek island of Lesbos. As well as maintaining a permanent ba ...

Biography

Garfella was born in Mallorca, Spain. He was the grandson of the painter Fernando Garfella and elder brother of the journalist Carlos Garfella. Growing up surrounded by the sea, he began

diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), ...

in his childhood and turned it into his career over time, founding the documentary production company Bogar Films, for which he made approximately 900 dives in the Balearic Islands and their surroundings. In his documentaries he managed to capture images of

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

such as the

pearly razorfish The pearly razorfish (''Xyrichtys novacula''), commonly known as cleaver wrasse, is a species of wrasse. It is of minor importance to local commercial fisheries and is popular as a game fish. It can also be found in the aquarium trade. Descri ...

and the

long-snouted seahorse ''Hippocampus guttulatus'', commonly known as the long-snouted seahorse and in Great Britain as the spiny seahorse, is a marine fish belonging to the family Syngnathidae, native from the northeast Atlantic, including the Mediterranean. Synonyms ...

, among others. As a documentarian and rescue worker, Garfella was associated with the

, constantly participating in the rescues of migrants from

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

to the Spanish coasts. He was also one of the originators and promoters of the

Dragonera Dragonera (; ; "Dragon Island"), also called Sa Dragonera, is an uninhabited islet in the Balearic Islands, Spain, located just off the west coast of Majorca. It is currently a natural park, Parc Natural Sa Dragonera. Geography Geologically spe ...

marine reserve and frequently collaborated with Mallorca Blue, an online platform dedicated to denouncing attacks on the marine environment in the Balearic Islands.

Disappearance and death

While making one of his regular dives near Dragonera on 9 August 2020, Garfella was swept away by a strong current at a depth of over . His girlfriend, seeing that he did not surface, alerted a fellow diver, who tried unsuccessfully to rescue Garfella but suffered

decompression sickness Decompression sickness (DCS; also called divers' disease, the bends, aerobullosis, and caisson disease) is a medical condition caused by dissolved gases emerging from Solution (chemistry), solution as bubbles inside the body tissues during D ...

and had to be rushed by ambulance to the Juaneda Clinic in Palma de Mallorca. The Underwater Activities Special Group (Grupo Especial de Actividades Subacuáticas) of the Civil Guard initiated an exhaustive search for Garfella's body. On 11 August 2020, Garfella's body was recovered by GEAS at a depth of . The body was transported to the Port of

Sóller Sóller () is a town and municipality near the north west coast of the Balearic Island of Mallorca, Spain, 3 km inland from Port de Sóller, in a large, bowl-shaped valley that also includes the village of Fornalutx and the hamlets of Biniara ...

References

External links

Official page
of

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garfella Palmer, Fernando 1989 births 2020 deaths Deaths by drowning in Spain People from Palma de Mallorca Spanish documentary filmmakers Underwater diving deaths