CSR_15 (August 20th -26th)

We have been so lucky the weather conditions allowed us to go to Corsica, staying out at sea for the whole week. CSR 15 was definitely the week of superlatives – with us having lunch in the middle of a group of feeding fin whales and meeting a sperm whale that led us to a group of four socializing animals. Together, they seemed to be braver, investigating our boat intently and letting us listen to their clicks, trumpets, codas and many other curious vocalizations. We watched them breaching in the sunset, and the only reason for us to end that stunning experience was the fading daylight.
On our way back to San Remo we realised why the route we were traveling on is called the "Fin Whale Highway": even during night navigation we could listen to the breathing of those big baleen whales in the dark that surrounded us.
No doubt this has been an extraordinary week for everybody!

Morgana, Giulia, Nina & José

Following link is for participants of this week's expedition, showing the ship's route, pictures of some of the sightings and of some moments of the cruise which were memorable (or even not so...)

Ai partecipanti al turno è dedicato uno spazio con il percorso effettuato durante la settimana, le foto di alcuni avvistamenti e qualche immagine dei  momenti da ricordare - importanti e non

Vote for the mediterranean monk seal! Votate per la foca monaca del Mediterraneo

The mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus) is on the list of endangered species, due to loss of habitat, interaction with fisheries and deliberate killings. Only few populations survive, among which the colony of Gyaros, an uninhabited greek island in the Northern Cyclades. A project aimed at ensuring the survival of the monk seal by establishing a sanctuary on the island and by managing it in collaboration with the local stakeholders, proposed by Tethys' President Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara, together with WWF Greece and the dedicated greek NGO MOm,is one of the three nominees for the La Prairie award for innovation in marine protection.
The award has been established in collaboration with the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, in order to support grassroot projects aimed at resolving environmental issues: a donation of 100.000$ will go to one of the selected initiatives. The winner will be chosen by an international jury together with fans around the world via an on line voting system. 

Everyone can vote: please help the mediterranean monk seal by voting this deserving project. And if you answer the 8 questions too (on the bottom of the page, scroll down), you earn additional votes for the project. Thank you!



ITA La foca monaca del Mediterraneo (Monachus monachus) è una specie un tempo frequente nei nostri mari, ma oggi sull'orlo dell'estinzione a causa della perdita di habitat, e delle interazioni con la pesca che spesso sfociano anche in uccisioni deliberate. Oggi ne sopravvivono solo poche colonie, tra cui quella dell'isola greca disabitata di Gyaros, nelle Cicladi settentrionali. Il Presidente di Tethys Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara, assieme a WWF Grecia e MOm, associazione non governativa greca), hanno presentato un progetto per un santuario sull'isola da gestire in collaborazione con le popolazioni e in armonia con gli interessi locali, ora nominato fra i tre possibili vincitori del perstigioso La Prairie award per l'innovazione nella protezione dell'ambiente marino.
Il premio, creato in collaborazione con la Fondazione Alberto II di Monaco, e dedicato a supportare progetti innovativi per la soluzione questioni ambientali, prevede una donazione di 100.000 $ al progetto considerato migliore. Il vincitore sarà decretato da una giuria internazionale, e da una votazione popolare via internet.

Chiunque quindi può votare: chi vuole sostenere la foca monaca del Mediterraneo può esprimere la preferenza per il progetto; inoltre, rispondendo anche alle 8 domande, che appaiono in fondo alla pagina (bisogna scorrere con il mouse), si ottengolo ulteriori voti. Grazie!

picture by V. Paravas/MOm

I vegetariani a Gorizia e l'insostenibilità della caccia alle balene

Cosa sappiamo oggi dei cetacei, quali sono i più minacciati nel Mediterraneo e nel mondo, e perché la caccia alle balene è insostenibile anche dal punto di vista scientifico: di questo e di altre questioni legate alla tutela del mare parlerà Maddalena Jahoda di Tethys, domenica 2 settembre prossimo, alle 16.30 a Gorizia, nell'ambito del Festival Vegetariano, giunto quest'anno la terza edizione.

La manifestazione si terrà in piazza della Vittoria, dal 31 agosto al 2 settembre e vedrà la partecipazione di nomi illustri tra cui Margherita Hack, Enzo e Patrizia Maiorca e Peter Hammarsted.
Gli interventi dedicati al mare saranno concentrati nel pomeriggio e sera di domenica.

CSR_14 (August 13th - 19th)

At the beginning of each week the Principal Investigator together with the captain designs a loose plan for the next days, taking into account the weather forecast and especially the sea conditions; then they evaluate the effort distribution inside the study area and the sighted species until that moment.Everything was calling for eastern routes, a Levante in the Ligurian sea vocabulary, and the lack of Risso’s dolphins and Cuvier beaked whales sightings was a good reason to go searching for those fascinating species.Within the first hour of navigation, bottlenose dolphins joined the motorsailer "Pelagos" and gifted the crew with a sighting which was one of the closest to the San Remo harbour. Together with photo-identification, also respiration patterns and a one hour sound recording were taken.A few hours later, while acoustically tracking two sperm whales, a fin whale blow appeared and the sperm whale emerged in the vicinity. Striped dolphins joined the group performing whale riding on the rostrum of the fin whale. Four species in one day… Not too bad as a start! The following days did not disappoint the expectations of the ecovolunteers, gifting every single route with more and more fin and sperm whales.Going east had become an utopia because every time we tried to do so, the sperm whales were there, right on the slope with their clicks and fluke ups, preventing us from proceeding, as each individual requires at least two hours of data collection.  Finally, on friday "Pelagos "spent a lovely night anchored at Gallinara, a tortoise shaped private island in front of Alassio. Bird colonies are the morning wake up and old mysterious buildings give a pirate allure to the landscape. The week ended with sperm whale sightings overtaking fin whales.

Francesca, Nina, Giulia and Josè

Following link is for participants of this week's expedition, showing the ship's route, pictures of some of the sightings and of some moments of the cruise which were memorable (or even not so...)

Ai partecipanti al turno è dedicato uno spazio con il percorso effettuato durante la settimana, le foto di alcuni avvistamenti e qualche immagine dei  momenti da ricordare - importanti e non

Be dolphin SMART!

It is summertime and you may encounter whales or dolphins while sailing in the Mediterranean or somewhere else. But it is not always obvious how to behave when cetaceans are around. Especially dolphins seem smiling and happy, but this should not fool you. “The most common mistake most people make is that they try to touch the dolphins, swim with them, feed them or interact with them in the wrong way” says Tethys' researcher Joan Gonzalvo, recently interviewed by Lalina Fafouti on Sunday’s special supplement on Science of the greek newspaper “TO BHMA” ("The tribune").

Moreover the boat traffic has increased exponentially, especially in the Mediterranean, and so did the potential disturbance to cetaceans it generates. To avoid causing the animals unnecessary stress, threatening endangered populations, just follow a few simple rules: put your engine at the “neutral” speed and keep a distance of 50 metres, do not feed the dolphins, do not try to touch them, do not dive in to swim with them. 

These rules are summarized on the Ionian Dolphin Project's website as: be SMART

Read more on IDP's website

ITA E' estate e non è difficile avvistare qualche delfino o balena in Mediterraneo o in altri mari del mondo. Ma come comportarsi? I delfini in particolare sembrano sempre sorridenti e felici, il che però non deve trarre in inganno. "L'errore più comune, dice Joan Gonzalvo, ricercatore Tethys recentemente intervistato dal prestigioso quotidiano greco TO BHMA ("La tribuna"), è tentare di toccarli, di nuotare con gli animali, di dar loro da mangiare o comunque di interagire nella maniera sbagliata." 
Gonzalvo, che è responsabile delle ricerche sui delfini della Grecia nell'ambito del Ionian Dolphin Project (IDP) di Tethys, ha anche coniato il felice slogan "Be dolphin SMART "("sii intelligente con i delfini") dove l'acronimo, visibile nel riquadro qui sopra, sintetizza poche semplici regole, traducibili all'incirca così:
State ad almeno 50 metri di distanza dai delfini (100 dalle balene)
Muovetevi con cautela se i cetacei danno segni di essere disturbati (improvvisi cambiamenti di comportamento)
Assicuratevi che il motore sia in folle
Ricordate di non dare da mangiare, non toccare né nuotare con delfini selvatici
Trasmettete ad altri queste informazioni per essere dolphin SMART.


Leggi di più sulla pagina di IDP

CSR_12 (July 30th - August 5th)

This week we were lucky to have 29 sightings in total, one of the highest totals of the season. Not only did we see many of the three most common Mediterranean species, sperm whales, fin whales and striped dolphins, but we also encountered three pods of bottlenose dolphins with their newborn calves. We even shared our sea bath with a sperm whale, listening to him click below us, and ate our dinner surrounded by six fin whales. Along with all of the cetacean sightings we also saw several loggerhead turtles and one sting-ray. The sea this week was very calm so we were able to sail to the island of Corsica where the participants and researchers enjoyed a restaurant dinner and a tour of the old castle of Calvi. After two nights there we returned to Sanremo, which involved drifting through the night, during which time we took turns to look out for ships nearby.

Elisa, Anna, Elsa and Giulia

Following link is for participants of this week's expedition, showing the ship's route, pictures of some of the sightings and of some moments of the cruise which were memorable (or even not so...)

Ai partecipanti al turno è dedicato uno spazio con il percorso effettuato durante la settimana, le foto di alcuni avvistamenti e qualche immagine dei  momenti da ricordare - importanti e non. 

Rio+20:some hope for the seas. Rio+20: qualche speranza per i mari

Some governments and NGOs were disappointed by the Rio+20 sustainable development conference which recently took place, but there may be at least some good news for the oceans.

Read the article by Susan Lieberman, director of Pew Environment Group.

Se la conferenza sulla sviluppo sostenibile Rio+20 è stata deludente, a detta di vari governi e NGO, qualche buona notizia c'è, perlomeno per gli oceani, secondo Susan Lieberman, direttore del Pew Environment Group.

Leggi l'articolo (in inglese)

CSR_11 (23-29/07/2012)

Due to storms over the weekend the sea conditions at the beginning of this week prevented us from going out to sea on our first day. However, the participants and the crew enjoyed the day in Montecarlo visiting the famous oceanographic museum as well as the historical part of the town. The weather then picked up so we were able to go out to sea for the rest of the week. We had a few days of perfect sighting conditions and during this time we were fortunate enough to see a large pod of striped dolphins with two newborn calves, as well as an incredibly rare encounter with a young sperm whale who just couldn’t resist to take a closer look at the boat. During the week we spent two nights at the Lerins Islands and enjoyed a serene walk around the monastery which is still inhabited by monks.

Elisa, Brandon, Elsa and Anna

Following link is for participants of this week's expedition, showing the ship's route, pictures of some of the sightings and of some moments of the cruise which were memorable (or even not so...)

Ai partecipanti al turno è dedicato uno spazio con il percorso effettuato durante la settimana, le foto di alcuni avvistamenti e qualche immagine dei  momenti da ricordare - importanti e non. 

Mediterranean fin whales probably overestimated - Forse sovrastimato il numero delle balenottere del Mediterraneo

The number of fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) in the Mediterranean may have been overestimated by including specimens from the Atlantic that only visit, at certain times. According to a new study, published in Marine Mammal Science, the estimated 3500 mediterranean individuals may be less on the basis of acoustic data, and the population probably presents a much more limited distribution than currently described. Moreover the noise generated by human activities affects their survival.
Read more
Read the scientific publication

Il numero delle balenottere comuni (Balaenoptera physalus) del Mediterraneo potrebbe essere stato sovrastimato, includendo gli individui che a volte entrano dallo stretto di Gibilterra, ma che appartengono alla popolazione atlantica. Secondo un nuovo studio, pubblicato sulla rivista Marine Mammal Science, i 3500 individui stimati dei nostri mari potrebbero in realtà essere meno, sulla base di dati acustici, e presentare una distribuzione più limitata di quanto si credesse. Inoltre il rumore generato dalle attività umane ne mette sempre più a repentaglio la sopravvivenza.
Leggi l'articolo (in inglese)
Leggi la pubblicazione scientifica (in inglese)

CSR_10 (July, 16th-22nd)

Although the weather conditions forced the crew to spend a day in the harbor by the end of the week, the tenth cruise in the waters of the Pelagos Sanctuary had a great start. More than 500 km were sailed at sea searching for marine life in the coastal and deep waters of the Ligurian Sea. Eleven cetacean sightings were recorded including striped dolphins, fin whales and a loose aggregation of at least 5 “tricky” sub-adult sperm whales. In the latter case, the animals, which were, at first, engaging in feeding activity just a few nautical miles off the Iles of Lerins, close by to Cannes, started to gather together at the surface at sunset. Unfortunately the sun disappeared behind the mountains, taking the secrets of the sea well safe in the darkness of the night. 

With the words of Sidney Buchman “If there were no mystery left to explore, life would get rather dull, wouldn't it?” resonating in the chilly air of the evening, we headed towards the coast and dropped the anchor in the bay of Cannes. It doesn’t matter how many times one can see the majesty of whales, every new sighting is like the first one ever. That’s why we are now ready and looking forward again to going out at sea, waiting for it to reveal us its secrets.  

The Tethys CSR Team, Anna, Brandon, Elsa and Nino

Following link is for participants of this week's expedition, showing the ship's route, pictures of some of the sightings and of some moments of the cruise which were memorable (or even not so...).

Ai partecipanti al turno è dedicato un link con il percorso effettuato durante la settimana, le foto di alcuni avvistamenti e qualche immagine dei momenti da ricordare - importanti e non.