Seminar in Patras

Today we presented dolphin research results at the University of Patras, Greece, to a very interested audience including approximately 70 students, researchers and faculty.

(Photos by S. Bonizzoni)

Moving together

A fast-moving group of striped dolphins.

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

On a golden surface

A bottlenose dolphin jumps at twilight, on a golden surface.

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

Striped dolphin close-up

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

Twilight

On the inflatable at twilight: a special moment.

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

Striped dolphin mother and calf

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

Fish farm specialists

Giovanni photographing bottlenose dolphins near the Galaxidi Marine Farm.

Bottlenose dolphins in the coastal waters of Greece have become 'fish farm specialists':

Bonizzoni S., Eddy L., Würsig B., Bearzi G. 2015. Fish farm specialists: bottlenose dolphins in the Southern Evoikos Gulf, Greece. Proceedings of the 29th Annual Conference of the European Cetacean Society. St. Julians, Malta, 23-25 March 2015.

Bonizzoni S., Furey N., Pirotta E., Valavanis V.D., Würsig B., Bearzi G. 2014. Fish farming and its appeal to common bottlenose dolphins: modelling habitat use in a Mediterranean embayment. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 24(5):696–711.

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

Not just another pretty face

Not just another pretty face. This old bottlenose dolphin wears the markings of a lifetime spent looking for prey and engaging in occasional fights with cospecifics.

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

Sighting #101

Yesterday we made our 101st sighting of the year: a group of eight bottlenose dolphins near the Galaxidi Marine Farm.

Since the beginning of the study in the Gulf of Corinth this would be sighting #645, for a total of 515 hours spent tracking dolphin groups (four species).

(Photos by G. Bearzi)

Dolphins in Patras, Greece

Giovanni has been invited by the University of Patras to present dolphin research findings in the Gulf of Corinth and elsewhere in Greece.

(Top photo by G. Bearzi, bottom by D. Knäbel)

Young common dolphin

A young common dolphin surfacing by the side of their mother. These animals survive in the Gulf of Corinth in the low tens, and are facing local extinction.

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni)

Delphi dolphin

A bottlenose dolphin surfaces near Kirra, the ancient port of Delphi, in the Gulf of Corinth.

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni)

Seaman and bowriding dolphins

A seaman embarked on a cargo ship observs and films striped dolphins bowriding.

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

Dolphinfish is no dolphin

Giovanni filming a school of juvenile common dolphinfish Coryphaena hippurus with a GoPro camera. Dolphinfish often congregate under floating objects, in this case an old plastic bucket.

While being one of the most beautiful fish around, "dolphinfish" (also called dorado, green dolphin or mahi-mahi) clearly have nothing to do with "true" dolphins.

(Photo above by S. Bonizzoni, below by G. Bearzi, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

Bowriding a cargo

Yesterday striped dolphins were observed bowriding a 90-m cargo ship for a pretty long time.

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

Lavinia at work

Lavinia Eddy at the field station, busy matching one of the 60,000+ dorsal fin photos of striped and common dolphins in our digital catalogue.

(Photo by G. Bearzi)

Playing with the sun

A striped dolphin breaching at sunset seems to be attempting a headshot with the sun.

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

Porpoising

Striped dolphins 'porpoising'.

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

Tenderness

This striped dolphin mother-calf pair expresses the tenderness of motherhood.

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

Discussing heavy industry impact

At our field station, Dr. Margarita Iatrou, a geologist from the University of Patras, shows to Silvia and Lavinia her research on heavy industry discards in the Gulf of Corinth. Collaboration with Margarita centres around potential impact of heavy metals on dolphins and other marine fauna.

(Photo by G. Bearzi)

Early morning sun

A juvenile bottlenose dolphin closes her/his left eye to avoid the rays of an early morning sun.

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

Breaching in the rain

A striped dolphins breaches under the rain, while the dim light says "summer is over".

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

September rain

Most of today's sighting of striped dolphins was under a September rain. Silvia managed to photo-identify several individuals while Lavinia was holding an umbrella to protect the camera :-)

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

Rush hour

Striped dolphin traffic jam in the Gulf of Corinth: members of a group of about 200 getting tightly clustered around midday.

(Photo by S. Bonizzoni)

Farm dolphin

A bottlenose dolphin jumps in the early morning near the Galaxidi Marine Farm.

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