OUR MISSION

The main purpose of our 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 population.

Long-term monitoring of a 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 2008-2009 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);
• Initiate mapping, in Geographic Information System (GIS), of dolphin distribution and abundance and hot-spots of interaction with human's activities;
• Study dolphin behaviour patterns;
• Compare and contrast dolphins found interacting with aquaculture with those utilizing the coastal environment of the north-eastern Sardinia ;
• Describe the vocalizations characteristics and changes induced by noise pollution.