This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Where are the great marine animals of the Mediterranean, such as the fin whale, the sperm whale or the bottlenose dolphin? How does their distribution change over a few weeks?
All indications suggest that these species shift between marine areas in a remarkably short time and over relatively small spatial scales. Some species, such as the striped dolphin, maintain a relatively stable presence in certain areas, while others, such as the fin whale, move and concentrate in different areas from one observation campaign to the next. These are some of the main conclusions of the Synoptic Ferry Observation Network (SYNFONY) project, an initiative to monitor marine megafauna in the Mediterranean with the support of ferry lines and shipping companies.
As part of the project, professors Odei Garcia-Garin and Manel Gazo of the Faculty of Biology and the Biodiversity Research Institute (IRBio) at the University of Barcelona coordinate observations along the Barcelona–Tangier–Barcelona route. More than 20 volunteers have also taken part in the project, mainly students in the UB's degree programs in biology, marine sciences and environmental sciences. Between June and July, three scientific campaigns recorded 707 observations of marine megafauna, mainly of the eight cetacean species commonly present in the Mediterranean: the fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus), the sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus), Cuvier's beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris), the common dolphin (Delphinus delphis), the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus), the striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba), Risso's dolphin (Grampus griseus) and the long-finned pilot whale (Globicephala melas).
Two sea turtle species were also recorded: the loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) and the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas). Observations along 19 fixed shipping routes in the western Mediterranean and the Adriatic provided a broad, simultaneous snapshot of the distribution of marine megafauna, particularly cetaceans and sea turtles. Commercial ferries thus become platforms for observing marine biodiversity, using the routes they regularly sail to gather data on the presence and distribution of species.
The striped dolphin offers one of the clearest examples. "During the first campaign it was observed more frequently and over a wider area. In the third campaign, however, the sightings were much more spatially concentrated, especially on one of the routes in the Spanish corridor," say Garcia-Garin and Gazo, from the UB's Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences.
The fin whale showed a relatively stable number of sightings across the three campaigns. However, its distribution along the different routes changed considerably. "Sea turtles also showed significant variability.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
