Progress report for
Goal 14 implementation for the protection of Mediterranean sea's whales and dolphins
Achievement at a glance
The goal of monitoring a portion of the Pelagos Sanctuary for Mediterranean Marine Mammals in the winter season was achieved by carrying out 15 sea expeditions close to the Ligurian coast, in the portion between Capo Mele and Capo dell'Arma, starting from the 08th of January to the 15th of March.Starting from Imperia's Porto Maurizio, we carried out 60 linear transects for a total of 520 miles, sailing on a 40-foot boat at speeds between 3 and 7 knots max, with optimal lighting conditions for observing cetaceans and sea and wind conditions lower than force 4 on the Douglas scale and lower than force 3 on the Beaufort scale respectively.
With three observers on board, we noted both the presence and absence of common cetacean species. We observed the prevalent presence of the following cetaceans species: bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) and striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba). Only one observation of common whale (Balaenoptera physalus) was registered in the last days of March.
No observations were made of the following species: Risso's dolphin (Grampus griseus), common dolphin (Delphinus delphis), sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus), pilot whale (Globicephala melas).
Information on the state of the sea surface has also been collected.
We have photographed the presence of pollution carried by the Ligurian current and removed numerous plastic objects from the sea surface.
Challenges faced in implementation
The lack of data on the presence / absence of marine mmmals in the area of the Pelagos Sanctuary in winter led us to face the sea in the so-called bad season and in fact we had to wait for the right conditions for observing cetaceans and had to cancel some planned expeditions due to unfavorable sea and weather conditions.Beneficiaries
Scientific community, local communities, the political and institutional world. We tried to concern those who decide, to inspire them to think about concrete actions for the protection of the marine environmental heritage.