A MAST-3/MATER programme and companion to the ALGERS project. ELISA was an interdisciplinary project to investigate the Western Mediterranean Sea, looking at the role of the Algerian Basin through the detailed study of the Algerian Current. The field work took place between July 1997 and July 1998 and involved 44 scientists from 8 countries. The objectives were to study:

the general circulation of the water masses, i.e. MAW, LIW and WMDW;

the Algerian eddies origin, structure and trajectories;

the biological activity associated with the mesoscale dynamic phenomena; and

the role of the mesoscale dynamics on the biological functioning of the Algerian Basin.