5 Conservation Projects.
3 Countries.
3 Countries.
Giant Guardians of the Deep Seas II: From Small Cetaceans to the Great Whales
Critical Habitats of Sperm Whales and Cuvier’s Beaked Whales on Levantine Sea, Population Statuses, Main Threats and Conservation Measures.
The project builds on the research conducted in DMAD's Giant Guardian's of the Deep Seas project incorporating both scientific research effort and conservation activities for the aim of implementing Marine Protected Areas in the Levantine Sea. The milestone objectives are:
- to delineate critical habitats of marine megafauna
- to increase the scientific capacity of government staff, researchers and students
- to establish standardized data collection protocol
- to increase public awareness on marine ecosystem protection
- to accurately conserve and sustainably manage the marine biodiversity of Levantine Sea with the notation of flagship species, sperm whales and beaked whales
For the success of the project, the fundamental targets are listed below:
- To fill the scientific data gap which is deemed one of the major threats to the flagship species, to collect accurate scientific data in Levantine Sea and share it to international platforms. Once the data is collected, the seasonal critical habitats and the scope of the anthropogenetic threats on the habitats will be determined and conservation measures and management and action policies will be strengthened by submitting the results of the project activities to the public institutions.
- To contribute to the “Species Conservation Action Plan-2018” of the Ministiry of Forestery and Water Management with project outcomes and report.
- To increase capacity building activities for the sustainability of the project by encouraging local and international researchers, students, fishermen and the policy makers to participate in the project and training them on cetacean survey protocols and online datasets and tools.
- To increase the public awareness of the importance of cetacean species and MPA's for marine biodiversity, to keep policy makers posted with updates about conservation activities, to create a marine conservation consciousness and to strengthen the citizen science activities for the sustainability of the project and its outcomes.
9
Seasonal surveys so far
100s
Of dolphins, whales and turtles
Montenegro Dolphin Research
"Integrating Scientific Research with Community Education forCetacean Conservation in Montenegro"
The Adriatic Sea holds one of the richest cetacean habitats in the Mediterranean Sea, however the same cetaceans are classified either at risk or data deficient and subjected to various anthropogenic threats such as habitat degradation, prey depletion, by-catch, vessel traffic and pollution. Montenegro waters have a lack of annual cetacean survey efforts, unlike countries in the northern Adriatic Sea. In 2016, Marine Mammals Research Association (DMAD) initiated a conservation effort called Montenegro Dolphin Research in order to highlight the necessity of transboundary cetacean conservation between Montenegro and its neighbouring countries. The aim of the Montenegro Dolphin Research is to notify the public on environmental cooperation that plays an extremely important role in conservation. MDR has been undertaking its annual survey effort in the coastal waters of Montenegro to collect baseline knowledge on distribution patterns and encounter rates of the bottlenose and striped dolphins. The research also targets photo identification in order to define the residency patterns in Montenegro. Finally, MDR aims to encourage community development through the active involvement of a wide range of stakeholders from fishermen to early career researchers and volunteers.
500+
Land Surveys
100+
Boat Surveys
Albania Dolphin Research
Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus) of Northern Albania, Southern Adriatic: Density, Distribution and Marine Traffic Overlay
All cetaceans that inhabit the Adriatic Sea are classified as either data deficient or at risk. In addition to that, many of the anthropogenic threats that effect their survival are caused by the marine traffic. Yet, in the coasts of Albanian waters there has been hardly any cetacean surveys. Hence, Albanian Dolphin Research would be the first of a kind that combines dedicated survey efforts with the citizen science and capacity building activities. ADR mainly focuses on the bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus) and their abundance, distribution, behaviour and marine traffic pressure related to the area. The data is recorded to form a baseline information on the keystone species in order to build up an awareness for the stakeholders and the community.
The research mainly focuses on the conservation and protection of the species that are responsible for the ecosystem balance but classified as at risk in Albania. Dedicated surveys and scientific efforts will fill the urgent need in data inefficiency and increase the management strategies regarding the stakeholders and the locals. Since there is a data gap in Albanian waters, ADR shall provide new and updates information that can be used not only to form a baseline data pool but a scientific approach to investigate Albanian waters’ ecology and resources.
Albania Dolphin Research plans to gather intense education courses (workshops) that will be conducted to support a capacity building for related ministry personals, students and early career researchers. The courses will cover both theoretical (marine biodiversity, importance of top predators in the system and survey techniques) and practical lessons (active involvement of stakeholders to the surveys). Furthermore by educating the fishermen and the captains in order to use safer procedures, when interacting with cetaceans, would in turn bring their interaction rate up, increase popularity, raise a healthy environment that shall attract more species.
12
Months of survey effort so far
2
Institutions from different countries
SANCET and Cetazoom
Our Strandings Network and Citizen Science Project
Southern Adriatic Network of Cetacean, Elasmobranch and Turtle Stranding - SANCET
This network is the first network in the Southern Adriatic Region of the Mediterranean to collect, co-ordinate, and collaborate stranding data for the scientific efforts of all parties involved. Elasmobranch, Cetacean and Turtle stranding data will be organised into a database which is spatially referenced for public access, so citizens interested in the project are able to see when and where stranding of certain species occur. The database that the network will proceed to work off, will provide a valuable source of information relating to various stranded species and the results of their deaths.
The stranding network was created by Researchers and Volunteers at Montenegro Dolphin Research (MDR) under the supervision of DMAD (Marine Mammals Research Association). Visit: www.sancet.org
Cetazoom
The potential to reach a common goal and create transparent transboundary conservation measures is vital for any conservation actions with solid protection measures. It has already been emphasised by many studies that cross-boundary conservation strategies are the strongest tool for the protection of both species and surrounding ecosystems. Therefore, the development of an online data sharing network for the Levantine Sea, an area that is already suffering from lack of dedicated survey efforts, not only increase the collaborations between research institutes, but also encourage the importance of citizen science.With this purpose in mind, DMAD has developed an online data sharing platform for photo-identification, called CETAZOOM (cetazoom.org.tr), and uploaded its entire photo-identification database to the system where any interested parties, including the general public, can download the pictures for their own interest. The website has already received rare species sightings from MMOs, fishermen and tourist boats crew. This project will create the perfect chance to develop a cross-border online photo-identification network which will help strengthen the connections between researchers and fishermen.