Luiz doesn't like to eat his animal friends

Young Luiz just doesn't understand why we kill and eat other animals...

Read a commentary by Mark Bekoff HERE.

It's better with predators

Fisheries mismanagement may derive from the incorrect use of obsolete and simplistic models by fishery scientists. When it comes to setting fishing quotas, the use of state-of-the-art ecosystem modelling (ideally combined with a correct use of the precautionary principle) can result in less damage to marine ecosystems.

This video illustrates why predators must be included in models aimed to set fishing quotas. It also suggests that culling predators will not help.

For more information click HERE.

Dolphin mosaic

We just made a new mosaic on the patio of our field station in Galaxidi.

Dolphin researcher's nest

This is the apartment for dolphin research assistants who work with us in the Gulf of Corinth, Greece. We recently repainted and remodeled it (on a shoestring budget).

We regenerated charming wooden furniture found trashed (kitchen table, cupboard etc.), while other items were built out of old beehives. The remaining furniture was contributed by our friend and landlord Christos.

On music and humanity

While I acknowledge that my primary function on Earth is to be a musician, I also see that music is nothing more than the essential component of humanity - it is all the same material. My feeling is that the more I can learn about music, the more I learn about other things. So far, it has worked for me.

-- Pat Metheny (born 1954)

Richard Bona sings "You", Pat Metheny Group

Photo from Google Images (edited), unknown author

Baby sea turtle in Greece

Juvenile loggerhead sea turtle Caretta caretta enjoying the first warmish sun of the year.

(Photo by G. Bearzi, Northern Evoikos Gulf, March 2011)

Dolphin in Motion by Nina

Nina, age 6, Gorizia, Italy

HERE you can learn how to draw your dolphin in motion.

Art of balance

Take away a feather and everything collapses.

The Story of Change

"Can shopping save the world? THE STORY OF CHANGE urges viewers to put down their credit cards and start exercising their citizen muscles to build a more sustainable, just and fulfilling world."

Have you ever watched the first and most famous chapter of the Annie Leonard's saga, "The Story of Stuff"? HERE it is.

Fishing buoy and plastic bag

(Photo by G. Bearzi, Northern Evoikos Gulf, Greece, April 2011)

Fishing buoy and tern

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni, Gulf of Corinth, Greece, July 2012)

Dolphin Biology People: Andrea

Andrea Sacchi has always chosen Galaxidi, Greece, as a place to hide away, recharge his batteries and recover from his demanding job as a radiologist in Varese, Italy. When he heard that there was a team studying dolphins, he asked Chrisoula whether she could arrange a meeting with us.

Silvia and I immediately liked his knowledgeable, truthful and exquisite style, and we soon became friends. Since then, Andrea has been an active supporter of our project, as well as a donor and an occasional field assistant – participating in research in the Northern Evoikos Gulf and in the Gulf of Corinth.

A lover of Greece since he was a teenager, Andrea combines his medical profession with a strong interest in nature conservation, often expressing concern for the habitat degradation he has been witnessing during his lifetime. That, however, does not make him a gloomy type. On the contrary, Andrea truly enjoys nature walks, wildlife... and good food such as that shown in the photo (Greek specialties prepared at the "Balcony of Heaven" – a traditional tavern in Atalanti).

How to draw a dolphin in motion

This page, intended for children (as well as playful adults), illustrates how to draw a walking dolphin in 8 simple steps.

Click HERE to see how it works.

How cool is your walking dolphin? Try to draw one using this online drawing board, and then share the result with your friends (Menu > Post > Share on FB).

Dolphin research in unusual places

When we say we are studying dolphins in Greece, most people depict us in a Santorini kind of landscape, where we would enjoy ever-sunny skies and transparent waters.

The image above portrays a somewhat different reality. It shows Silvia in the Northern Evoikos Gulf, where we spent most of the time following bottlenose dolphins in the Bay of Larymna, near this appalling ferronickel smelting plant (the largest in Europe). The air was often unbreathable due to industrial smokes, and the water kind of black. However, bottlenose dolphins regularly came to feed in this area because of its high density of fish farms (see Silvia's poster HERE).

A photo ebook of our work in the Northern Evoikos Gulf can be viewed HERE.

(Photo by G. Bearzi, October 2010) 

Young bottlenose dolphin near Galaxidi

This young bottlenose dolphin is a member of a small group that regularly comes to feed in the proximity of fish farms near Galaxidi.

Bottlenose dolphins appear to be transient in the Gulf of Corinth, as documented by the article below:

Bearzi G., Bonizzoni S., Gonzalvo J. 2011. Mid-distance movements of common bottlenose dolphins in the coastal waters of Greece. Journal of Ethology 29(2):369-374.

(Photo by G. Bearzi, Bay of Itea, Gulf of Corinth, Greece, June 2012)

Artisanal fisherman in Italy - 5

MPA of Sinis Peninsula, Sardinia, Italy, February 2011 (photo S. Bonizzoni)

These fishermen show a hole that was reportedly made by bottlenose dolphins in their nylon net. This kind of damage combines with the problems caused by illegal and mismanaged fishing, as well as strong winds preventing fishing with small boats during much of the year.

Dolphin Biology People: Chrisoula

It was thanks to information and encouragement provided by Chrisoula Papalexi that, back in 2008, we decided to start a dolphin project in the Gulf of Corinth. Since then, Chrisoula (here portrayed with Giovanni) has become a close friend and a strong ally of our small team.

A charismatic hotel manager and skilled chef, Chrisoula has become a personality in Galaxidi. People from around the world stay at Hotel Ganimede and Hotel Miramare and enjoy her home-made breakfast (with locally sourced ingredients, Chrisoula prepares marmelades, jams, chutneys, olive paste and hummus, served with bread and pastries made by her husband Kostas). On top of managing two hotels, one bakery and one nautical shop, Chrisoula and Kostas also 'manage' their amazing and beautiful children: Evi, Athanasia and Nikos.

Dolphin on wood

On a wooden house at Galveston Island, Texas.

Science and Buddhism

If scientific analysis were conclusively to demonstrate certain claims in Buddhism to be false, then we must accept the findings of science and abandon those claims.

-- XIV Dalai Lama (born 1935)


Also see Wikipedia "Buddhism and science", and

Dalai Lama XIV. 2005. The Universe in a Single Atom: The Convergence of Science and Spirituality. Morgan Road Books, New York. 224 pp.

Photo from Google Images (edited), unknown author

Saving the Earth as a career?

This book will tell nothing new to the professionally grown-up. However, I wish I had a chance of reading similar advice when I was in my University years. Plenty of valuable recommendations here, and written in a simple and pleasant style.

Perhaps a bit US-centric, to the extent that one may end up wondering what pre-packaged conservation professions may be waiting for the newly graduated in – say – Italy or Greece. Hey, is there any job waiting for us at all?

Yet, the advice that can be found in this book is more generally useful and it won't harm spending the 17 Euro needed for the ebook version (or perhaps even the 26 Euro for the paperback).

Hunter M.L. Jr.,  Lindenmayer D.B., Calhoun A.J.K. 2007. Saving the Earth as a Career: Advice on Becoming a Conservation Professional. Wiley-Blackwell. 216 pp. 

E-book £13.99 / €16.99; paperback £21.50 / €25.80

Artisanal fisherman in Italy - 4

MPA of Sinis Peninsula, Sardinia, Italy, February 2011 (photo S. Bonizzoni)

This fisherman shows part of a bitten cuttlefish as evidence of dolphin depredation.

Dolphin Biology People: Christos

Christos Goultidis is the landlord of the apartments we use as a field station for dolphin research in the Gulf of Corinth, Greece. Over the years, he has become a collaborator and one who truly appreciates the work done by our small team. He regularly travels to Galaxidi from his home in Athens, sometimes simply to make sure that plants keep growing in the garden (defying high summer temperatures and a rocky soil). More often, he comes to solve problems that keep popping up in our three apartments, be it a malfunctioning solar panel or a damaged door. Over time, his visits have become welcome heartwarming events.

Christos has been in the computer business since 1983, working with Ericsson in Sweden for many years (he speaks Swedish fluently), and then as a computer educator in Greece. He wrote over 20 books and guides about computers and software. Several of these are used by public education institutions and computer centres nation-wide as textbooks to achieve a computer proficiency certification.

India bans dolphin shows

On May 17th the Government of India has decided "not to allow establishment of dolphinarium in the country", i.e. to ban cetacean captivity projects in a Republic counting 1,210,000,000+ inhabitants.

The rationale (available HERE) includes, among others, the following impressive statements:

Whereas cetaceans in general are highly intelligent and sensitive, and various scientists who have researched dolphin behavior have suggested that the unusually high intelligence; as compared to other animals means that dolphin should be seen as “non-human persons” and as such should have their own specific rights and is morally unacceptable to keep them captive for entertainment purpose,

Whereas cetaceans in general do not survive well in captivity. Confinement in captivity can seriously compromise the welfare and survival of all types of cetaceans by altering their behaviour and causing extreme distress.

Circular F. No. 20-1/2010-CZA(M) of 17 May 2013, "Policy on establishment of dolphinarium" (the original document can be retrieved HERE)

The decision by the Government of India had been announced short ago, as communicated by WDC.

(photo G. Bearzi) 

Jane Goodall on change

Change happens by listening and then starting a dialogue with the people who are doing something you don't believe is right.

-- Jane Goodall (born 1934)

Photo © 1964 Hugo van Lawick (edited)

Dolphin Biology People: Annalucia

Annalucia Cantafaro (here photographed with Silvia) joined us in Galaxidi for three weeks. The Gulf of Corinth was often wavy and – apart from a few bottlenose and striped dolphin sightings – Annalucia spent long days on computers, matching loads of dorsal fin images. We are grateful for all she did to help us move on with our work.

Annalucia holds a M.Sc. in Eco-Biology at 'Sapienza' University of Rome, Italy. For her thesis, she investigated habitat quality and recruitment of juvenile hake in the Tyrrhenian and Ligurian Seas. Annalucia is currently studying filmmaking with the aim of producing nature documentaries.

(Photo by G. Bearzi, May 2013)