Aircraft flights and voyages will be basic from now on to control the living conditions and threats faced by cetaceans and other marine species in the Mediterranean corridor that runs between the Alicante and Girona coasts. These two means of control will cover 32,652 square kilometers belonging to the Mediterranean Cetacean Migration Corridor through the CETAMED North project. The objective, which the entity Submon will be in charge of together with researchers from the University of Barcelona (UB), is to broaden knowledge about the distribution and abundance of deep-diving cetaceans such as the sperm whale, the Risso’s pilot whale, the pilot whale or the beaked whale Cuvier’s, as well as more widely distributed species such as the striped dolphin or the fin whale.
The State declared the Mediterranean Cetacean Migration Corridor a Protected Marine Area, surface that integrated in 2018 in the Network of Marine Protected Areas of Spain (RAMPE) for its importance for habitats or threatened species and for its contribution to connectivity. It constitutes a corridor of vital importance for the survival of cetaceans in the Western Mediterranean.
One of the biggest problems for the management and conservation of marine biodiversity is the lack of information on the status of its populations. In order to work on the conservation of these species, protected, all nationally and internationally at different levels, such as the pilot whale, which is in danger of extinction and in the Ligurian Sea has decreased by almost 60%, it is also essential Know the degree of impact of the various threats in the area.
The Mediterranean is one of the environments most polluted by plastic waste, which represents one of the greatest threats to marine life. For this, explains one of the project directors, Carla Chicote, “quantitative studies of floating garbage are needed to correctly assess this problem.” According to scientists, plastics affect 700 endangered species, from small pieces that end up in their stomachs to drinks pack rings that strangle them or plastic bags that can suffocate them.
“Cetamed Norte intends to provide data that helps to better understand the species and their threats in order to be able to effectively manage the area,” explains Chicote. It will consist of two research campaigns, one by air and the other by sea using the “distance sampling” methodology. Linear transects will be made by plane and boat. The program has the support of the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry of Ecological Transition within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan financed by Next Generation funds.
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The air campaign will take place in May because the fin whale, the second largest whale in the world (up to 20 meters in length), migrates between March and April from the south towards the Ligurian Sea, between Nice, Corsica and the Tuscany coast. italian.
By air and sea
They will use a specialized plane with windows bubble windows, “some oval windows that allow you to put your head inside and have a very broad view of the area that is flown over to detect the animals under study from the air,” the biologist details. Two observers will travel in the aircraft, a third will record the data and an expert pilot in this activity. The flight, from the Ebro Delta to Cap de Creus over 3,800 kilometres, will zigzag to cover a greater coverage of the area. It will make it possible to sample the species by recording data on the presence and abundance of cetaceans, turtles and garbage. Subsequently, the use that these animals make of the habitat will be studied, that is, with which variables they are most related, such as depth or water temperature. The result could allow certain predictions. As for the remains of anthropogenic origin, it will allow us to see the degree of threat they pose to the fauna that inhabits or migrates through this protected area.
The maritime campaign will be carried out in June with a boat in which three crew members and seven scientists will go. It will complement the aerial transects by traveling 4,000 km for a month carrying out acoustic transects using a towed hydrophone -a microphone used underwater- “which will allow the detection of deep-diving cetacean species, which are more difficult to detect in aerial censuses due to their long dives”, he indicates. For example, sperm whales, which submerge between 30 and 60 minutes and constantly emit clicks while echolocating food. The hydrophone allows you to locate them, determine the use of clicks to feed and record their immersion times. “When they rise to the surface, they are taken to photograph them for the photo identification catalogue,” explains Chicote. They portray fins that are like fingerprints. They have identified 65 pilot whales.
Submon has already carried out various projects in areas included within the Mediterranean Cetacean Migration Corridor such as the ahab Y SCARS. Chicote is hopeful of “obtaining relevant and solid information to learn less about the reality of the species that inhabit and migrate in this area.”
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