Monitoring system and research studies on cetaceans in the Gulf of Taranto (Northern Ionian Sea, Central-Eastern Mediterranean Sea)

The knowledge on dolphins and whales, their habitat suitability and conservation status in the Mediterranean Sea is still rather heterogeneous and defective although these aspects represent fundamental currency for evaluating the anthropogenic impacts on the ecosystem functioning. Concerning the Ionian Sea (Central-eastern Mediterranean Sea), starting from 2009 an intense research activity was carried out by the Jonian Dolphin Conservation (JDC) and the Department of Biology University of Bari (UNIBA Local Research Unit CoNISMa), reducing the shortcomings in the basic scientific information in the Gulf of Taranto (Northern Ionian Sea). Sightings data were collected during standardized vessel-based surveys confirming the presence of 8 different species of cetaceans (Dimatteo et al., 2011; Fanizza et al., 2014; Carlucci et al., 2015 and 2016). Innovative field of research were opened from 2015 collaborating with the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle UMR-Paris, for the genetic study on the social structure in the striped dolphin Stenella coeruleoalba and the bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus, as well as with the Institute of Intelligent Systems for Automation ISSIA-CNR, for an automatic system of photo-identification for the bottlenose dolphin, the Risso's dolphin Grampus griseus and the sperm whale Physeter macrocephalus. Lastly, a new study on the acoustic inventory of the striped dolphin and the Risso's dolphin was started from 2016 collaborating with the Institute for Coastal Marine Environment IAMC-CNR of Torretta Granitola. Finally, an intense education activity was carried out from 2009 by JDC as a structured project of Citizen Science involving school-children, students as well tourists on whale and dolphin watching boarding on 3 different vessels equipped for scientific surveys and monitoring programs. Moreover, a national monitoring along the Italian costs was coordinated by UNIBA on board of the training ships Palinuro and Vespucci in the framework of the dual use activity carried out in collaboration with the Italian Navy.