Dear all,
We are pleased to share with you some important conservation news
regarding the cetaceans of the Hellenic Trench, Greece, and especially
the /*Endangered sperm whales and the Vulnerable Cuvier's beaked
whales*/ (Mediterranean sub-population). After more than 25 years of
efforts of the Pelagos Cetacean Research Institute, in collaboration
with all our partners and allies (OceanCare, IFAW, Inst. Applied &
Computational Mathematics of FORTH, WWF Greece, GreenTank and others) we
can see the future of "our" whales with optimism.
On 17 April 2024 during the 9th Our Ocean Conference, Greece has
committed (commitments 2A and 13) to:
*1) Establish "THE IONIAN MARINE NATIONAL PARK (from north of Kefallonia
to south of Antikythira) with a total area of over 14,000 km2. The park
covers over 11% of Greek territorial waters, the Ionian segment of the
Hellenic trench being its core... The park is established because the
area is very important for marine mammals such as /Physeter
macrocephalus/, /Ziphius cavirostris/ and /Stenella coeruleoalba/.
*
*2) "ESTABLISH MONITORING AND EARLY WARNING SYSTEM FOR PASSING BY SHIPS
TO IDENTIFY ON TIME LARGE
MARINE MAMMALS so that the ships that are in the Greek territorial
waters slow down and avoid collision with them in the area between
Kythira, Cape Tainaro and Cape Maleas".* This commitments refers to the
construction, deployment and implementation of the pioneer SAvE Whales
(System for the Avoidance of collisions with Endangered sperm Whales)
that is described in a short educational video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_qBbs2dabw
The official document of Greece's commitments can be found at:
https://www.ourocean2024.gov.gr/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/A5_OOC-9_PROPOSED-COMMITMENTS_12.4.pdf
*/Committing for all the above is very positive and promising. It also
shows that organizing the Our Ocean Conference in a country adds a lot
of pressure to the local authorities to accept and commit for mature
conservation measures. However, the whales of the Hellenic Trench will
not feel the difference in their lives until the commitments are
fulfilled and protection measures are implemented. In addition, W and S
Crete, which is also part of the critical habitat of the whales will not
be part of the protected areas. On the contrary, seismic surveys are
still going on with plans to start drilling soon./*
*/While being finally more optimistic than ever, we will continue our
efforts hoping that with the support of all the cetacean and
conservation community we will eventually make the whales feel safer in
their habitat.
/*
/*The history*
The population unit of*sperm whales in the Hellenic Trench was
discovered in 1998* by the Pelagos Cetacean Research Institute and keeps
being monitored since that time. The population trend is declining with
numbers that are currently estimated to range between 150 and 200
animals. Ship-strikes have been identified as the major threat for this
population unit, but seismic surveys, noise pollution and macro-plastic
ingestion also occur in its critical habitat.
//The population unit of *Cuvier's beaked whales in the Hellenic Trench
became globally known in 1998*, after the second well known mass
stranding of the species in the area (more than 20 individuals), which
was due to military sonar use by NATO.
For all the above reasons on 2007, at the third meeting of *ACCOBAMS*,
the Parties included the Hellenic Trench in the map of *proposed Marine
Protected Areas for Cetaceans* and ask the Greek authorities to make the
necessary steps towards this direction.
In 2017, the Hellenic Trench was the first area to be listed as
an/*/IMMA (Important Marine Mammal Area) /*/by the IUCN Marine Mammal
Protected Areas Task Force./
Best wishes,
Alexandros
--
__
Dr. Alexandros Frantzis
Scientific director
Pelagos Cetacean Research Institute
Terpsichoris 21
16671 Vouliagmeni,
GREECE
Tel.: +30-210-8960108
e-mail:afrant...@otenet.gr
website:http://www.pelagosinstitute.gr
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVyp-eiteK0GBb0Lr5psk0g
__
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