Among dolphins

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

Colourful sailing boat

A beautiful sailing boat made by children at the Galaxidi kindergarten, to thank Silvia for her dolphin presentation. Greatly appreciated!

Sea turtles booming

We keep encountering loggerhead sea turtles. Lots. At least five every day: way above the average in previous years. Normally we would encounter some 10-20 sea turtles per season. Last year we encountered 66. This year it looks like we are going to beat all records.

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

Who runs faster?

Yesterday's encounter with striped dolphins.

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

Not a shark

A small swordfish swimming near the surface. Dorsal fin on the left, caudal fin on the right.

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

Water runner

A Scopoli's shearwater during take off.

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

Inflatable bottlenose dolphin

One more photo of our presentation at the Galaxidi kindergarten. The inflatable bottlenose dolphin is popular among children.

(Photo by G. Bearzi, Galaxidi, Greece)

Intensely social

Striped dolphins rubbing one another during intense socialisation.

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

Sad-eyed dolphin

A rather sad-eyed striped dolphin breaching alongside our boat.

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

Baby sparrow

A tiny sparrow who fell off the nest and into our patio. We put her/him back in place and the rescue seems to have been successful.

(Photo by G. Bearzi, Galaxidi, Greece)

Dolphins at the Galaxidi kindergarten

Today's presentation by Silvia at the Galaxidi kindergarten. Our thanks go to the passionate teachers who invited us and to a very interested audience.

(Photo by G. Bearzi, Galaxidi, Greece)

Feeding frenzy

Striped dolphin in a moment of feeding frenzy.

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

By your side

Striped dolphins surfacing side by side.

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

Besides our boat

Striped dolphins leaping at unison besides our inflatable.

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

Stand up for your fish

Striped dolphin "standing".

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

100 striped dolphins "porpoising" in the Gulf of Corinth

A group of approximately 100 striped dolphins "porpoising" in the Gulf of Corinth. Is anyone still discussing whether this area deserves to be protected?

These dolphins were observed today, feeding together with tuna, seagulls and shearwaters. A scenario one would dream to observe in the open ocean, but hardly expect within the semi-enclosed Gulf of Corinth—a small-scaled Mediterranean hosting an amazing marine fauna.

For more information see THIS ARTICLE.

(Photos by S. Bonizzoni)

Sea turtle day

Within a few miles of navigation we spotted ten different individual sea turtles, including two babies. The photos show six of the ten turtles observed today, some with large barnacles.

It never happened before (since 2009) to see so many sea turtles in a single day within the Gulf of Corinth. Babies are normally rare, and we had never seen more than one or two in a year. Loggerhead sea turtles do seem to be increasing.

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

First dolphin sighting of 2017

Today's sighting, our first of the year, involved 25 bottlenose dolphins–including these two jumping individuals.

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

Tissue samples

Lavinia and Silvia collect and store tissue samples of the striped dolphin stranded in Galaxidi for subsequent laboratory analyses.

(Top photo by G. Bearzi, bottom by S. Bonizzoni)

Heart of a striped dolphin

A striped dolphin's heart really does look like a HEART 💙

(Top photo by S. Bonizzoni, bottom by G. Bearzi)

Dead striped dolphin

Today a striped dolphin was found dead near Galaxidi. Our friend Chrisoula Papalexi alerted us and Nikos Stanzouris helped us do a quick necropsy before the dolphin was buried.

The animal was a young female, 1 m 34 cm long. She had a large wound of unknown origin near her right eye, and the tip of the upper jaw was broken.
 
We contacted our friends Prof. Bruno Cozzi and Prof. Sandro Mazzariol, veterinary experts from the University of Padua, Italy, who have a lot of experience on dolphin strandings. They could not identify the cause of mortality based on photos of the wound. A gun shot should have exited from the opposite side, but there was no enter/exit hole (or bullet inside). Explosives would have left solid fragments that were not present, and produced a different damage. Finally, there was no sign of entanglement in fishing gear. The wounds might be postmortem, perhaps caused in part by animals, and/or rocks and other debris following the stranding. But at present there is no certainty and this is just preliminary speculation.

Information on striped dolphins living in the Gulf of Corinth can be found in the paper below:

Bearzi G., Bonizzoni S., Santostasi N.L., Furey N.B., Eddy L., Valavanis V.D., Gimenez O. 2016. Dolphins in a scaled-down Mediterranean: the Gulf of Corinth's odontocetes. Pp. 297-331 in Mediterranean Marine Mammal Ecology and Conservation (G. Notarbartolo di Sciara, M. Podestà and B.E. Curry, eds). Advances in Marine Biology, Vol. 75, Academic Press, Oxford.

(Photos by G. Bearzi)

Action Plan for Marine Mammals in Israel, 2017–2022

Our latest contribution to marine mammal conservation:

Action Plan for Marine Mammals in Israel, 2017–2022

Download simple pdf version (5 MB)

Download pdf with active Table of Contents and links (14 MB)

SUMMARY

The Mediterranean waters of Israel cover a sea surface of approximately 26,000 km2. Israel also has a small 14 km window open to the Red Sea, at the northwestern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba/Eilat. These waters host a considerable variety of marine mammals: most of the cetacean species known to be present in the Mediterranean also occur in the waters of Israel. On the southern coast, the deep Gulf of Aqaba/Eilat hosts several of the cetacean species occurring in the entire Red Sea. Israel’s marine mammal fauna also includes one member of the Family Phocidae (the rare Mediterranean monk seal); one sirenian—the dugong—may still occur in the Gulf of Aqaba/Eilat.

Israel has formally committed to the preservation of biodiversity by ratifying a number of international conservation treaties and issuing strict nature and animal conservation laws. However, action taken so far has not been capable of mitigating the diversity and vehemence of human pressures on the marine environment. While all marine mammal species in Israel are formally protected, little action has been taken to prevent unintentional damage. Timely conservation action is needed to prevent marine mammal decline.

The Action Plan for Marine Mammals in Israel, prepared by Giovanni Bearzi (Dolphin Biology and Conservation) in consultation with Israel Marine Mammal Research & Assistance Center (IMMRAC), contributes background information, a rationale and a set of actions to protect marine mammals in Israel. The Plan outlines a set of legislative, management, research, education and awareness initiatives which aim to: 1) improve the management of human activities known or likely to have negative impacts on marine mammals, and produce scientific information that can support and guide such process, 2) prominently feature marine mammals in national legislation and management decision, 3) make the general public and the institutions fully aware of the need of protecting marine mammals, as well as of the long-term benefits of preserving healthy marine ecosystems, 4) ensure the protection of areas containing important marine mammal habitat and prey resources, and 5) support the development of expertise and establish the social and economic framework necessary to accomplish the marine mammal conservation objectives listed above.

In recent years, field research by Israeli and other scientists has produced important information on marine mammal occurrence, ecology and behaviour. Such knowledge, together with a growing popular appreciation of the importance of protecting marine biodiversity, represents a solid background to start a formal process of nation-wide recognition of marine mammals—leading to more intensive research efforts, increased public and institutional awareness, and concrete conservation action. Besides representing a resource for nature tourism, a healthy marine mammal fauna can raise Israel’s international reputation as a nation aware of the importance of protecting its natural heritage. Science-based actions inspired by the precautionary principle can set high standards of conservation management, representing a model for marine mammal protection in the region and propelling broad marine conservation efforts.

Seminario all'Orto Botanico di Padova

Giovanni's seminar at the Botanical Garden of Padua, Italy. Thank you Paola Nicolosi (Director of the Museum of Zoology, University of Padua) for the warm welcoming and the opportunity.

Delfini e balene all'Orto Botanico di Padova

DELFINI E BALENE: mostri da massacrare o esseri senzienti da tutelare?

Attraverso immagini di grande impatto visivo, Giovanni Bearzi illustrerà gli stupefacenti cambiamenti che hanno trasformato in nostro modo di percepire i cetacei. Per secoli "pesci" mostruosi e maligni, animali nocivi da sterminare, prede; oggi "giganti gentili", simpatici cugini acquatici dalle mirabili capacità intellettive, esseri senzienti. Un percorso codificato in termini moderni da Jeremy Bentham e Charles Darwin, che sta entrando a far parte del pensiero scientifico e del sentire comune (con molte contraddizioni). 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. Come è possibile evitarne la scomparsa? Bearzi, veneziano, svolge ricerche sui cetacei del Mediterraneo da trent'anni—di solito da piccole imbarcazioni. Parlerà dello studio dei cetacei in natura, spiegando i suoi metodi di indagine preferiti e come le informazioni acquisite su campo possano contribuire alla tutela di questi affascinanti mammiferi marini.

Giovanni Bearzi, Ph.D., Pew Marine Conservation Fellow, è Presidente di Dolphin Biology and Conservation

Striped elegance

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