30 September 2018

Loggerhead sea turtle and barnacles



A juvenile loggerhead sea turtle Caretta caretta covered with barnacles.

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni, Northern Adriatic Sea)

Big engine!



(Photo by S. Bonizzoni, Northern Adriatic Sea)

29 September 2018

27 September 2018

Dolphin behind midwater pair trawlers



A bottlenose dolphin forages in the wake of midwater pair trawlers as nets are being hauled, 10 nautical miles off Caorle, Italy.

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni, Northern Adriatic Sea)

26 September 2018

24 September 2018

Strong wind forecast



Today we better stay home...

Last surfacing before a dive



This kind of body arching suggests this is the last of a series of surfacings, and the beginning of a long dive.

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni, Northern Adriatic Sea)

23 September 2018

Giovanni Bearzi al Malnisio Science Festival 2018


Delfini e balene: da mostri malvagi a individui senzienti


Attraverso immagini di grande impatto visivo, illustrerò gli stupefacenti cambiamenti che hanno trasformato il nostro modo di percepire i cetacei: per secoli, esseri mostruosi e maligni, animali nocivi da sterminare, prede; oggi, giganti gentili, simpatici cugini acquatici dalle mirabili capacità intellettive, individui senzienti.

L’evolversi di questa “biofilia marina” sarà in grado di rallentare il degrado ambientale e la perdita di biodiversità? Di certo alcune popolazioni di cetacei sono state decimate e versano in grave pericolo, anche nei nostri mari. È possibile evitarne la scomparsa?

Domenica 7 ottobre, ore 10.45

http://www.malnisiosciencefestival.com/guests/giovanni-bearzi/

Centrale idroelettrica A. Pitter di Malnisio
Via Alessandro Volta 27
33086 Montereale Valcellina PN

Mnemiopsis leidyi in the Adriatic



During the summer we observed masses of this beautiful ctenophore, the comb jelly Mnemiopsis leidyi. It is an alien species in the Adriatic, and one with a high destructive potential as it feeds on fish eggs and larvae, as well as on zooplankton. The comb jelly bloom has the potential to further compromise Adriatic fish stocks that have already been compromised by decades of overfishing.

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni, Northern Adriatic Sea)

22 September 2018

Dawn at sea



Looking for dolphins in the early morning, before the sun rises and the wind raises.

(Photo by G. Bearzi, Northern Adriatic Sea)

21 September 2018

20 September 2018

18 September 2018

Dolphin off Porto Tolle



A bottlenose dolphin surfaces near the coast off the Po River delta, not far from the dismissed thermoelectric plant of Porto Tolle.

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni, Northern Adriatic Sea)

17 September 2018

16 September 2018

Marked flukes



The nicks in the flukes of this bottlenose dolphin likely originate from a bite given by some other dolphin.

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni, Northern Adriatic Sea)

13 September 2018

Who's stronger?



Adult male bottlenose dolphins on a quest for dominance: a display of acrobatic skills and physical strength.

(Photos by S. Bonizzoni, Northern Adriatic Sea)

12 September 2018

11 September 2018

Pelagic stingray feeding on floating seagrass



This young pelagic stingray Pteroplatytrygon violacea was observed feeding (with its belly up) on floating leaves of the seagrass Zostera marina.

In the Adriatic Sea waters off Veneto encounters with juvenile pelagic stingrays swimming near the surface are not rare. However, it is the first time we observed this somewhat unexpected foraging behaviour

(Photos by S. Bonizzoni)

10 September 2018

Memories



The small house in Veli Losinj, Croatia, where Giovanni used to live in the 1990s while running the Adriatic Dolphin Project. Renovated by the new owners and repainted in light blue, it is as lovely today as it used to be back then. We returned after twenty years, as tourists.

(Photos by S. Bonizzoni)

09 September 2018

Cormorant and buoys



Great cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo and mussel farm buoys.

(Photo by G. Bearzi, Northern Adriatic Sea)

08 September 2018

Head bumping



Two male bottlenose dolphins bumbing their heads real hard as they fight in the offshore waters of Veneto, Italy.

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni, Northern Adriatic Sea)

06 September 2018

05 September 2018

Surfacing in tight formation



Bottlenose dolphins surfacing in tight formation off the Adriatic LNG terminal.

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni, Northern Adriatic Sea)

04 September 2018

Good light



Bottlenose dolphin photographed in a stunning evening light.

(Photo by G. Bearzi, Northern Adriatic Sea)

Silvia and Marco



Silvia with Marco Bregoli, a Marine Biology student at the University of Padova, Italy.

(Photo by G. Bearzi, Northern Adriatic Sea)