Crossing rostra

Striped dolphins crossing their rostra. The meaning of this social behaviour is unknown.

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

Umbrella squid in the Gulf of Corinth

A large umbrella squid Histioteuthis bonnellii found floating at the surface during a dolphin survey. Its body was partly missing and perhaps eaten by a predator. Some of the impressive arm web responsible for its common name is visible.

(Photo by G. Bearzi)

Risso's dolphin babysitting a common dolphin calf

Risso's dolphin "Yaya" babysitting a short-beaked common dolphin calf while the baby's mother swims at a distance.

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

Risso's dolphin spyhopping

Yaya, the one and only Risso's dolphin Grampus griseus living in the Gulf of Corinth, was found today together with a short-beaked common dolphin and her calf.

As often observed during encounters dating back to 2009, Yaya was swimming in close contact with the common dolphin baby -- who looked minuscule besides the Risso's.

Apart from babysitting, Yaya was seen "spyhopping" (as shown in the photo), surfing the waves, and playing with Cotylorhiza jellyfish and with plastic bags.

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni)

Dedicated to Dagmar

A striped dolphin breaches in the glorious sunset light. Dedicated to our friend and collaborator Dagmar Knäbel.

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

Leatherback sea turtle in the Gulf of Corinth

Our report of the first observation of a living leatherback sea turtle in the Gulf of Corinth was just published. You can download it from THIS LINK.

(Underwater photos from video by G. Bearzi)

Coastal striped dolphin

This young striped dolphin was encountered yesterday in waters 150 m deep, in the middle of the Bay of Itea, Greece. It is our first striped dolphin sighting in this area, normally used by bottlenose dolphins. While striped dolphins prefer much deeper waters, they do make occasional diversions into the shallowest waters of the Gulf of Corinth.

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni)

Lavinia with dolphins 2

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

Lavinia with dolphins 1

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

Evening breaching

A striped dolphin breaches in the late evening, before the group starts performing long dives to look for prey.

(Top photo by G. Bearzi, bottom by S. Bonizzoni, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Dolphin surfing

Four striped dolphins surf in the wave created by a passing yacht.

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

Streamlined

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

Leaving the field

Nina and Eva left the field station today, after three weeks spent matching dorsal fin photos and collecting data at sea. They have done a great job (all on a volunteer basis) and we are grateful for their collaboration and the time we spent together.

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

1001

With yesterday's announcement of a renewed DBC web site our blog has reached 1000 posts. This image of a breaching striped dolphin looking at the photographer is #1001.

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

Our new web site

We updated and tried to improve the Dolphin Biology and Conservation web site:

www.dolphinbiology.org

Bowriding x 3

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

Low leap

Adult striped dolphin performing a low leap.

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

Eye half closed

A young striped dolphin half-closes her/his left eye while surfacing.

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

When the wind blows

When the wind blows we stay at the office and match thousands of dorsal fin photos.

(Photo by G. Bearzi)

Evening dolphin

A juvenile bottlenose dolphin jumps in the late evening light.

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

Big, small and smaller

A superyacht passes while our inflatable is following a dolphin group.

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

Trio in action

During a striped dolphin sighting.

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

On the inflatable

Silvia, Eva and Nina on the inflatable.

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

Humpbacked striped dolphin again

The "humpbacked" striped dolphin living in the Gulf of Corinth was observed again yesterday. This animal has been encountered and photographed in the Gulf over the past seven years.

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni)

Also see:
http://dolphinbiology.blogspot.gr/2014/09/not-worry.html
http://dolphinbiology.blogspot.gr/2014/08/humpbacked-striped-dolphin.html

Three on the inflatable

Silvia, Nina and Eva during a striped dolphin sighting in the Gulf of Corinth.

(Photos by G. Bearzi)

Visiting scientists

Eva, Nina and Silvia with visiting scientists Dr. Olivier Gimenez (animal population demographer at CNRS, the French National Research Center) and Prof. Eleni Kazakou (a plant functional ecologist at Centre for Functional and Evolutionary Ecology in Montpellier, France).

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

Diagonal

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

Ricercatori bolzanini

An interview with Maddalena Bearzi appeared in the Italian newspaper Alto Adige on 10 August 2015.

Read the article HERE.

After the matching

Nina, Silvia and Eva enjoy a draft Mythos after a day spent matching dorsal fins.

(Photo by G. Bearzi)

Striped dolphins in the wild

(Photo by N. Santostasi, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Pink-bellied striped dolphins

Two pink-bellied striped dolphins socialize. That involves a lot of physical contact.

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

Good captain

A yacht slows down and stops as its route crosses a group of striped dolphins. The captain allowed everybody on board to take a few photos, and then resumed navigation without causing unnecessary disturbance to the animals. A sensible and much appreciated behaviour.

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

In front of our boat

Striped dolphins swimming in front of our boat, off the northern coast of the Peloponnese.

(Photo by G. Bearzi)

Back on board

After stopping in a sheltered bay to wait for better sea conditions, Silvia, Nina and Eva get back to our inflatable to continue the survey.  

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

Striped dolphin's sharp teeth

While the sharp conical teeth of a striped dolphin normally serve to catch slippery prey, they also play a role during social interactions with cospecifics.

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

Short-beaked common dolphin in the Gulf of Corinth

One of the few short-beaked common dolphins surviving in the Gulf of Corinth, Greece.

The Mediterranean population of short-beaked common dolphin Delphinus delphis is classified as Endangered in the IUCN Red List.

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni)

Horse mackerels' shelter

Juvenile Atlantic horse mackerels Trachurus trachurus aggregate and find shelter under a plastic bucket drifting in the Gulf of Corinth, Greece.

(Photos from video by S. Bonizzoni)

Close up

Striped dolphin portrait.

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