OUR MISSION

The Bottlenose Dolphin Research Institute BDRI is a marine science and education centre committed to conserving the diversity and integrity of marine life to meet the needs of current and future generations. To meet this aim BDRI researchers carry out field research projects and provide scientific and volunteer support.

BDRI concentrates its efforts on dolphins' research. The BDRI is not a tour operator or dolphin watching organisation, but a well-organised team of researchers carrying out one of the longest ongoing research projects of a resident dolphin population in the Mediterranean Sea. BDRI is partner to ACCOBAMS, the UNEP's Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans in the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Contiguous Atlantic Area.

Bottlenose Dolphins are protected by European law, but in order to develop effective protection guidelines, education and research is necessary to find out much more about the dolphins, and the pressures they face. The main purpose of our dolphin research program is to contribute towards a more detailed understanding of the relationships between bottlenose dolphins and human activities. By knowing more about the presence and distribution of bottlenose dolphins it enables us to make more informed and wiser decisions about the conservation and management of this dolphin population.

Long-term monitoring of a dolphin population is not viewed as exciting science, but is absolutely essential in order to estimate population trends and understand their causative factors. The information gathered on the population of dolphins will be of vital importance to study any subsequent changes in their distribution and behaviour due to increasing human pressures. Moreover, the involvement of local people, fishers included, in the conservation of the marine environment is necessary.

Although perceived conflict of interactions between dolphins and coastal, small scale commercial fisheries has been reported in our study area, cooperation between local fishers and researchers is necessary in order to realize both monitoring and subsequent regulations.

To contribute to the objectives during the next field season we will focus on the following objectives:

• Determine abundance estimate of dolphins within the north-eastern Sardinia study area on a seasonal basis;

• Identify individual dolphins, describe the patterns of association of bottlenose dolphins and describe the way in which their social separation is related to the way in which dolphins respond to the food patches created by humans;

• Document habitat use and a more detailed understanding of the relationships between bottlenose dolphins - fisheries (gill-nets and trawlers) and aquaculture (obtain information on incidental capture of bottlenose dolphins in human activities);

• Mapping, in Geographic Information System (GIS), of dolphin distribution and abundance and hot-spots of interaction with human's activities;

• Study dolphin behaviour patterns and communication;

• Compare and contrast dolphins found interacting with aquaculture with those utilizing the coastal environment of the north-eastern Sardinia;

• Describe the dolphin vocalizations characteristics and changes induced by marine noise pollution in Sardinia, Italy.