Hooked sea turtle

On September 2nd we found this loggerhead sea turtle Caretta caretta, likely drowned after being hooked on a fishing longline.

Bycatch in longlines is a relatively common source of mortality among sea turtles in the Gulf of Corinth (and elsewhere). Of 7 sea turtles found dead in this area since 2009, 3 had fishing line protruding from their mouth.

A video featuring an encounter with a hooked dead animal can be viewed HERE.

For the record, during our dolphin surveys in the Gulf of Corinth we encountered a total of 69 loggerhead sea turtles alive. One of them was entangled in a piece of trammel net and another one had ingested a hook and was dragging a long fishing line. Both were disentangled and released.

(Photos by G. Bearzi)

Eclypse

Pat Metheny -- Tell Her You Saw Me (from Secret Story, 1992)

Dolphins' rostra

Three striped dolphins expose their rostra.

Incidentally, a dolphin's rostrum isn't a "nose", but of course the mouth's tip. That holds true for "bottlenose" dolphins.

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

Interviewing fishermen - 8

Silvia interviewing a trammel fisherman in Eratini, Greece. We are learning so much from these interviews!

(Photo by G. Bearzi)

Left eye, right eye

This short-beaked common dolphin, a female, was particularly interested in the people on board. She often came to inspect the photographer who protruded from the bow, with both of her beautiful eyes. 

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

Artisanal fisherman in Greece - 13

Actually, she is a fisherwoman.

(Photo by B. Würsig, Itea, Greece)

Fishing boat deserving protection

The impact on the marine ecosystem of this kind of beautiful artisanal fishing boats is negligible. These days, the fish one can hope to catch with a 4 or 5 m long wooden boat provides, at best, an occasional frugal meal to be consumed by the fisherman's family.

As the fish stocks declined due to overfishing by commercial fleets, the small traditional boats have themselves declined. Skilled artisans able to work with wood and repair them are rare, and fibreglass has become the standard.

Small wooden boats should be regarded as a part of Greece's (and other coutries') cultural heritage. Instead of subsidizing commercial fleets that cause devastation, Mediterranean policy makers should consider investing in the protection of small-scale fishermen who operate this kind of small and harmless boats. That would promote beauty, tradition and sustainability at once.

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni, Itea, Greece)

I forgot my phone

Feeding frenzy

Small tuna feeding on schooling fish in the early morning light.

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

Interviewing fishermen - 7

A particularly kind trammel fisherman interviewed by Silvia in Itea, Greece. His grandchild helps on board.

(Photo by G. Bearzi)

Interviewing fishermen - 6

Silvia interviewing a young trammel fisherman in Itea, Greece.

(Photo by G. Bearzi)

Pleasure and pain, happiness and misery

This Photoshop-based ad is part of an awareness campaign by The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Queensland. It states that "we're all creatures great & small" (see the full ad by RSPCA - HERE).

In the Introduction of a paper published in 2010 (*) we wrote the following:

The full scientific realization that animals suffer is relatively new, and still lively debated (e.g. Singer, 1975; Regan, 1983; Hawkins, 2002; Chandroo et al., 2004; Dawkins, 2006, 2008; Bekoff, 2007). Although the concept has been at the core of some philosophies and religions for thousands of years (e.g. Buddhism; Lecso, 1988; Phelps, 2004), in strictly scientific terms the realization that animals can experience feelings including distress and pain has come much later in human history. Such a view has been around since the times of Charles Darwin and was clearly expressed by Darwin himself (1871): "the lower animals, like man, manifestly feel pleasure and pain, happiness and misery".

(*)
Bearzi G., Pierantonio N., Bonizzoni S., Notarbartolo di Sciara G., Demma M. 2010. Perception of a cetacean mass stranding in Italy: the emergence of compassion. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 20:644-654.

Three individuals, two species

A short-beaked common dolphin and two striped dolphins.

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

Shearwater alphabet

A Scopoli's shearwater Calonectris diomedea "paints" mysterious ideograms on the water surface as he flyes low in the early morning light.

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

"Hump-backed" striped dolphin

This striped dolphin with a hump – nicknamed Gibbo – has been regularly observed in the Gulf of Corinth since 2009. Yesterday Gibbo was actively socializing with other group members, performing repeated jumps around our boat.

Over the years, we have encountered bottlenose and striped dolphins with a range of physical deformities or other anomalies, who seem to be doing fine and behave pretty much the same way as their "normal" cospecifics. Anomalous appearance does not cut these animals off their society.

Also see THIS POST.

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni)

People

The eyes of this lady met in Galaxidi, Greece, express the dignity that some manage to find in their elderly years.

(Photo by D. Knäbel)

Sunrise

Sometimes we wake up before 5 AM to look for dolphins, but we end up watching waves for the whole day. It doesn't feel like a waste of time.

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

Striped dolphin near coast

A striped dolphin breaches off the northern shore of the Peloponnese peninsula.

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

Drying tentacles

A fading tradition still alive in some areas of Greece: the tentacles of an octopus drying in the sun, to be served soon at a local taverna.

(Photo by G. Bearzi, Eretria, Greece)

Black-headed gulls

Black-headed gulls (possibly Chroicocephalus ridibundus) on the beach of Galveston Island, Texas.

(Both photos by G. Bearzi, March 2012)

Wave riding - 2

The wave generated by a passing ship gives extra power to a striped dolphin's jump.

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

Wave riding - 1

Striped dolphins get an adrenaline rush when the passing of a large vessel produces waves suitable for high-speed swimming and acrobatic jumps.

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

Frontal dolphins

The frontal view of a striped dolphin Stenella coeruleoalba, left, and of a common bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus, right.

Note the different size of the head relative to the rest of the body.

(Both photos by S. Bonizzoni, Greece)

Farmers market in Itea, Greece

We went shopping at the lively farmers market in Itea. Here is a PHOTO ALBUM showing the colours and some of the people.

(Photos by Dagmar Knäbel and Giovanni Bearzi)

Split second

Two striped dolphins in the early morning light. Two images taken a fraction of a second apart.

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