Happy 2014 !

Waiting for upkeep

An artisanal fishing boat on land, waiting for upkeep.

(Photo by G. Bearzi, Monastiraki, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Centimetres away

A striped dolphin exhales as she surfaces centimetres away from our inflatable's bow.

(Photo by G. Bearzi, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Rushing somewhere

A tight subgroup of striped dolphins, rushing somewhere.

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Fishing boat in Greece

(Photo by G. Bearzi, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Global Wealth Inequality

The Economics Of Happiness

The full movie is worth the $5 needed for "rent" or the $15 for "buy/download".

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The Economics of Happiness describes a world moving simultaneously in two opposing directions. On the one hand, government and big business continue to promote globalization and the consolidation of corporate power. At the same time, people around the world are resisting those policies – and, far from the old institutions of power, they’re starting to forge a very different future. Communities are coming together to re-build more human scale, ecological economies based on a new paradigm – an economics of localization. 

A diascussion guide (pdf) can be downloaded at theeconomicsofhappiness.org/study-guide 

Spanish subtitles: vimeo.com/ondemand/economiadelafelicidad 
Slovenian subtitles: vimeo.com/ondemand/ekonomijasrece 

"A powerful new film that cuts deeply to the heart of the global crisis. Magnificent!"
   – David Suzuki, Television presenter and environmentalist

Golden dolphin

An evening light goldens the skin of this young striped dolphin.

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Bottlenose dolphins socializing

Three common bottlenose dolphins socialize vigorously in the early morning.

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Sunset and dorsal fin

A bottlenose dolphin surfaces in the evening light.

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Fishing boat in Greece

A swordfish icon adorns the bow of this artisanal fishing boat.

(Photo by G. Bearzi, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Short-beaked common dolphin

A short-beaked common dolphin shows a pinkish belly as he breaches.

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Fishing buoy

Fishing buoy (and a modern fender) on a traditional trammel netter in Kato Assos, Greece.

(Photo by G. Bearzi)

Three striped dolphins

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Scopoli's shearwater's wingspan

A Scopoli's shearwater showing its impressive wingspan.

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Almost on board

Striped dolphins bowride and jump around an inflatable in the Gulf of Corinth, Greece.

Little if any enforcement exists in this area to ensure proper behaviour in the proximity of marine mammals. Boat manoeuvering relies on the driver's degree of awareness and respect for the animals.

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni)

Trammel nets in the sun

The trammel nets of an artisanal fishing boat, drying in the sun.

(Photo by G. Bearzi, Agios Ioannis, Greece)

Bottlenose dolphin approach

A large bottlenose dolphin comes to have a look at our boat. This kind of close approaches by bottlenose dolphins are rather unusual in the Gulf of Corinth.

(Photo by G. Bearzi, Bay of Itea, Greece)

Vaquita: Saving the Desert Porpoise - by Chris Johnson

Chris Johnson produced this excellent update on the vaquita conservation program in Mexico. It is a condensed version of his former film, with news from WWF Mexico.

Striped dolphin in brown and pink

The early morning light paints this striped dolphin in unusual tones of brown and pink.

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Seagull spot

A seagull enjoys its comfortable observation spot on the buoy of a finfish farm.

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Fishing boat in Greece

A trammel netter in Kato Assos.

(Photo by G. Bearzi)

Pat Metheny - Last Train Home

Seagulls

Seagulls near the Galaxidi fish farm.

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Fishing cross

A wooden cross on a boat moored in the small fishing port near Kiato, Greece.

(Photo by G. Bearzi)

Artisanal fisherman in Greece - 24

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni, Kirra, Greece)

Our new home page

www.dolphinbiology.org

Sir David Attenborough : What A Wonderful World

Two bottlenose dolphins

Common bottlenose dolphins socializing in the Bay of Itea, Greece.

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni)

Fishing boat in Greece

Wooden boats used by artisanal fishermen in Greece often feature some dolphin artwork.

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni, Derveni, Greece)

Océans profonds: l'appel de Matthieu Ricard

Sign the petition HERE.

Seagull, morning light

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni, Bay of Itea, Greece)

Clouds - 8

On the Northern Evoikos Gulf, Greece.

(Photo by G. Bearzi)

Clouds - 7

On the Northern Evoikos Gulf, Greece.

(Photo by G. Bearzi)

Interviewing fishermen - 17

(Photo by G. Bearzi, Glifada, Greece)

Dolphin conservation in Varese, Italy

Giovanni talking about dolphin conservation yesterday night at Castello di Masnago, Varese: an event kindly organized by Italia Nostra. Many thanks to Valeria Villa for being the promoter of this initiative.

(Both photos by S. Bonizzoni)

Fishing buoys

Fishing buoys used by longline fishermen interviewed in Xilokastro, Greece.

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni)

Artisanal fisherman in Greece - 23

This fisherwoman in Glifada looked happy, and passionate about her profession.

(Photo by G. Bearzi)

The Dolphin Show by Huang-Ju Chen

This image by Huang-Ju Chen reminds us of some of the truth behind dolphin cages.

One of Chen's photos in this series, titled "The Dolphin Show" is among the 100 stunning photos currently exposed at the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition in Milan, Italy.

Ending Overfishing - by Ocean2012

Striped dolphins, late evening light

(Photo by G. Bearzi, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Artisanal fisherman in Greece - 22

A fisherman from Agii Pantes on his boat.

(Both photos by G. Bearzi, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Striped dolphins, adult ad juvenile

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Clouds - 6

On the Northern Evoikos Gulf, Greece.

(Photo by G. Bearzi)

Clouds - 5

On the Northern Evoikos Gulf, Greece.

(Photo by G. Bearzi)

Clouds - 4

On the Northern Evoikos Gulf, Greece.

(Photo by G. Bearzi)

Music Painting

A sweet music video produced in 2010. Very pleasant.

Seagull

(Photo by G. Bearzi, Ag. Spiridon, Greece)

Orcas attacking sperm whales - by Blue Sphere Media

View HIGH RESOLUTION video

BAJA - by Erick Higuera

View HIGH RESOLUTION video

Juvenile grey triggerfish in the Gulf of Corinth

This very short, simple video features a school of baby grey triggerfish hiding under plastic rubbish.

View HIGH RESOLUTION video

Young grey triggerfish (Balistes capriscus) tend to aggregate under floating debris. These animals were once considered relatively rare in the Mediterranean Sea, but we see them with increasing frequeny in recent years. The grey triggerfish is a member of the Balistes family. It normally reaches about 2 kg in weight.

Striped dolphins filmed underwater

These striped dolphins were filmed in the Gulf of Corinth, Greece, during the field season 2013.

View HIGH RESOLUTION video

All footage was obtained from the boat (no swimming with animals) with a GoPro Hero2 camera kindly donated by Jens Kramer.

(Video by G. Bearzi; editing by G. Bearzi and S. Bonizzoni; many thanks to Nina Santostasi, Dagmar Knäbel and everybody at OceanCare)

Philippines speech moves Climate Change plenary to tears

Warsaw Climate Change Conference - November 2013 

Yeb Sano, the Philippines chief negotiator, opened the UN climate talks with a plea for urgent action. In his compassionate and moving speech, Sano said governments must to take notice of what happened in his country, and act accordingly.

More HERE

Sport fisherman

A hand line fisherman in the morning.

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Striped dolphins and cargo ship

Hellenic Seaways cargo and striped dolphins. Ship traffic in the Gulf of Corinth cuts right through critical dolphin habitat.

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni)

Seagull rear view

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Artisanal fishing boat

(Photo by G. Bearzi, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Artisanal fisherman in Greece - 21

(Photo by G. Bearzi, Itea, Greece)

Common dolphin nimbleness

A short-beaked common dolphin displays the acrobatic skills of its species.

Only a few tens of individuals survive in the Gulf of Corinth, Greece, where common dolphins are thought to interbreed with the much more abundant population of striped dolphins.

(Photo by G. Bearzi)

Young bottlenose dolphin

A young common bottlenose dolphin portrayed in the Bay of Itea, Greece.

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni)

"Cute" animals in the media: the case of the slow loris

If one googles "slow loris" or their genus "Nycticebus", some of the videos mentioned by Prof. Anna Nekaris immediately pop up – together with the comments of viewers who think that slow lorises are pets.

For additional information, see:

Nekaris KA-I, Campbell N, Coggins TG, Rode EJ, Nijman V (2013)
Tickled to death: analysing public perceptions of ‘cute’ videos of threatened species (slow lorises – Nycticebus spp.) on web 2.0 sites. PLoS ONE 8(7): e69215.

Always been here

Locally sourced

Locals rush to buy a little fish when artisanal fishermen moor in the port of Itea, Greece. Owners of small trammel netters hardly earn more than a few 10-Euro bills out of a day of fishing - which barely covers the costs of fuel and boat upkeep. Meanwhile, money is being made by industrial fishing boats using destructive fishing methods.

(Photo by G. Bearzi)