The DMAD team recorded three strandings which were covered by the media over the last week. These incidents took place in completely different locations (Izmit, Kuşadası, Fatsa) which is potentially concerning as evidence of anthropogenic threat spread from the Black Sea to the Aegean.  Due to the excessive decay of the dolpin discovered at Izmit on May 1st, it was impossible to identify the species, however, we were able to determine that it was a calf. Cause of death is unknown, however, İzmit is a city that despite being home to multiple Natioanl Parks, has uncontrolled industry which has lead to high levels of pollution. Although the species of the dolphin stranded in Aydın Kuşadası on the 4th of May again was unclear, it was received by Adnan Menderes University Veterinary Faculty for necropsy. The last stranding case occured on the morning of 6th of May in the Fatsa district of Ordu. Footage of local residents attempting to save the short-beaked common dolphin was captured on camera. Although the intentions were good, the lack of knowledge on how to rescue stranded dolphins unfortunatley meant that the actions taken (releasing the dolphin into water from a high platform and leaving it in deepwater after carring it with a sack) actually put the stranded dolphin at more risk. “Citizens, seeing a dolphin stranded on the beach, kept it alive by putting it in a sack and leaving it in deep water.” It is rather clear from the news and the video that people gathered to help and made a plan on how to best return the dolphin to the sea. However, there is an unfortunate lack of knowledge that need to be tackled. Although efforts to help dolphin are always appreciated, we the people working in marine sciences, cannot ignore our obligation to inform and correct them. Dolphins may strand for various reasons that include but are not limited to; sickness, damage to organs, loss of orientation due to excessive and impulsive underwater noise caused by sonar and seismic studies or, a calf starving as a result of getting seperated from its mother. If a healthy individual has stranded then it has a chance of successfully returning to the sea. However, during this rescue it is important to be careful to return the animal to the sea without causing any more physical and mental stress, as this will increase the chances of survival. The best action to take is to reach for experts such as the Turkish Marine Research Foundation (tudav.org) in order to protect both the animal and yourself using information provided by the experts.If a live dolphin or a whale stranded on the shore is encountered, expert teams and a local veterinarian should be contacted immediately. Until the expert team arrives, the animal should be covered with a thin and light cloth soaked in sea water if the dolphin is exposed direct sunlight. It is crucial that the blowhole located on top of the animal is not covered so that the animal can breathe. The cloth needs to be wet as long as the animal is on land. The most critical factor is to stay away from the already stressed animal as much as possible in order to avoid causing more stress.

The discussions forming around Covid-19 and the potential involvement of animal trafficking as a root cause have the potential to herald significant benefits for the protection of wildlife worldwide. However the conservation sector, like many others, is taking a hit from the global pandemic. Research assistant Phoebe Thorpe writes… I am sure most of you are now very much aware of the current Covid-19 pandemic. But what does that mean for wildlife conservation projects? For our research efforts here at DMAD, the new coronavirus has caused a few setbacks. We had to make the tough decision to send our wonderful volunteers and interns in Montenegro back to their home countries. It is no longer feasible nor safe for us to carry out surveys. The majority of wildlife projects, just like ours, have had to make the same sacrifices.  There are a huge number of organisations, ours included, that are funded in some way by contributions from volunteers and interns who come to support the research of the project and learn from their teams. Many of these are now having to ask for online donations so that their projects can survive. Whereas DMAD’s project focuses day-to-day on data collection of wild animals, numerous wildlife projects protect semi-wild or rescued animals that still need to be cared for despite funding shortages and global pandemics. An example of this is projects seeking to protect Asian elephants, who must try to fundraise in order to have enough money to care for the animals. BBC News has published an article discussing the fate of Thai elephants at this time. In the article they interview Kerri McCrea, who is cofounder of Kindred Spirits Elephant Sanctuary. She explains how she and the villagers not only care for the project’s elephants, but also over 70 others that have been brought from tourist camps in the cities to their village. At first glance it does seem like great news that the elephants are out of captivity, but this puts a lot of strain on the organisation in terms of care, resources, and money. Elephant sanctuaries and other projects caring for wildlife will be amongst the hardest hit by funding cuts during covid Other news stories which have hit headlines about Covid-19 and wildlife are the discussions around the ban of wildlife trafficking and live animal markets. Shenzhen is the first Chinese city to ban cat and dog markets. The pandemic has brought tragedy with the loss of lives, yet we can look at these stories with the view point that there is some light coming out of Covid-19 and that we can celebrate these little wins for wildlife. Chris Packham expressed his concern to the BBC that amidst the talk and chaos of Covid-19 we may lose momentum in fighting long term issues such as climate change and loss of biodiversity. Here at DMAD we share a similar worry and so we have made sure we are doing all we can to conserve our planet. Our founder and managers have been catching up with data analysis, reading and writing scientific reports, and creating online software training lessons for our interns. Our interns are still advancing their skills in software, reading up on key marine mammal articles and reports, and practicing how they would carry out their own project all from the comfort of home. We also want all of you to know that you can still contribute to helping wildlife from home. Here are a number of suggestions from the DMAD team!  Take an online course in scientific computer software   Get involved with projects looking for help in identifying species remotely Listen to podcasts  Watch documentaries  Read articles, books and blogs  Approach projects to see if you can help with their social media and websites Pick up litter on your walks Use eco-friendly cleanering products, recycle, create less food and packaging waste  Talk to people and spread your knowledge about how to help the environment (preferebaly online or from a safe social distance…!)  We hope that this post has brough a little insight into how Covid-19 has affected wildlife conservation projects, and that even during an uncertain time there are some good news stories and that you know that you can still make an impact on helping the environment from home! For some further inspiration on how to get involved from #quarantine, have a look at The Jane Goodall Institue and ConservationTraining.org, and stay up to date with our social media where we’ll be posting further ideas from our interns! 

Hi, I’m Myrthe. I am 20 years old and study biology in Almere, The Netherlands!  As I’m currently in my third year I needed to find an internship abroad for my studies. I always have been very passionate about nature and animals in particular, which is why I want to protect them and pursue a career in animal conservation. So far, I have done various projects like butterfly and reptile surveys in the Netherlands.    I have no experience (yet!) with marine biology but because I always have been interested in sea mammals, I wanted to find an internship that focuses on cetaceans to learn more about them and to see if it’s a field I would like to work in after I graduate. Also, I wanted to improve my research skills and get more experience with fieldwork.  I am very excited to join DMAD and the MDR project because, not only will I learn a lot about cetaceans and marine biology, I will also get to stay in a beautiful country and meet new people from different countries and cultures. I think this internship will be quite the adventure, living in a country I have never been before, the road trips for land and boat surveys and of course discovering Montenegro on days off! To learn more about our internships and volunteering opportunities click here and follow us on Instagram and Facebook for regular updates from our research teams!

Hello! I’m Katie – having grown up in coastal cities, I have always enjoyed being by the sea. I’m currently taking a gap year before starting university in September to study Marine Biology and Oceanography. Being fascinated with the ocean and its inhabitants, I wanted to spend my year out gaining research and conservation experience.  I started my studies of marine biology when participating in a Coral Reef Ecology course on a voluntary research expedition to Dominica in 2016. Since then, I have participated in internships with AIMM Portugal where I had the opportunity to contribute towards the conservation of cetaceans through research and education. Throughout both of these opportunities, I gained experience working in the field, as well as knowledge about the many threats that humans pose to the ocean. I have also spent time carrying out environmental research in a geolab at the University of Oxford’s School of Geography. Here, I gained skills from professionals of climate change and gained in-depth knowledge of the environmental pressures that are becoming more and more pressing on an everyday basis. By participating in these different opportunities I have learnt just how important and valuable the natural environment really is. It is vital for us, as the only species on Earth able to make a difference, to protect the ocean and its inhabitants. We must also accept responsibility to ensure the future of the marine environments by raising awareness through research and education.  I am spending three months with DMAD, working with the Montenegro Dolphin Project team. I’m excited to learn about the marine mammals of Montenegro and how to use scientific software that can be used to process raw data. This internship has also provided me with the opportunity to visit a country that I have never visited before and see places I otherwise might not visit! Above all, I’m happy to finally be back in the field, gaining more hands-on experience in the field of marine conservation!

10th – 15th January 2020 Introduction DMAD with the support of the MAVA foundation has continued to conduct the only dedicated seasonal survey effort collecting data on cetaceans within the Levantine Sea. The project has been running since April 2018 with the goal of collecting long-missing data on the marine top predators of the Levantine. The collected data will form part of a defense mechanism against unregulated and uncontrolled human pressures. The Levantine Sea is under pressure from unmitigated fishery practices, habitat destruction, marine traffic, marine debris and recently oil and gas explorations, each of which is adding to a collective pressure of threats on marine species. In order to protect what remains, our team travelled between Marmaris and Antalya Bay following pre-determined transects for five days in Janaury 2020. The main tasks involved monitoring acoustics twenty four hours a day and conducting visual surveys in search of cetaceans during daylight hours. Five Days at Sea Within the first twenty four hours, the team encountered a pair of Cuvier’s Beaked whales, which are known as one of the most elusive cetacean species. The species of concern was recently upgraded to Vulnerable status by the IUCN Red List after being classified as “data deficient” for over 10 years. The presence of Cuvier’s beaked whales have previously been recorded by the DMAD team in the Antalya Bay since 2015. Yet, the decline in their sighting rates, coupled with an increase in stranding data) has raised concerns.  Therefore, the current sighting was a silver lining to the winter clouds that shrouded our survey and pushed us harder to carry out our dedicated survey efforts within the least scientifically explored region of the Mediterranean. We encountered over 20 groups of delphinids, including an offshore sighting of bottlenose dolphins, a species that is generally consdiered to be coastal in the Mediterranean Sea.  By looking at our data, it is clear to see that the Levantine Sea, which was once assumed to be ‘the desert’ of the Mediterranean Sea, holds key habitats for cetaceans not only in its coastal waters but also in its deeper blues. Further to this, the basin continues to be important for cetaceans even during the colder seasons. Önceki Sonraki Nevertheless, the same habitats are suffering from the ignorance of us, humans. We have encountered kilometre long rivers of waste, striped dolphins with one metre long parasites and last but not least, loud and impulsive noises throughout our study, days and night, leaving no room for silence for animals who depends on sound for their very survival!  Now, it is a known fact that anthropogenic noise does impact the marine ecosystem from bottom to top, from causing an increase in the mortality of zooplankton and fish larvae to the permanent hearing loss and mortality of marine megafauna. And in 2020, despite the known cause-result relationship, the noise pressure continues with no mitigation measures applied in the area (to the best of our knowledge).  We each must continue our individual efforts, from small to big, in order to protect the animals that depend on us and DMAD will certainly be doing so! If you would like to see what DMAD gets up to day-to-day and see photos from our surveys please follow us on Facebook and Instagram, @marinemammalsresearch. Or if you would like to join us on a future survey or donate to our cause, email us at [email protected]

As the United Nation’s World Wildlife Day, March 3rd is a perfect opportunity to celebrate and raise awareness of the world’s wild animals and plants. Although DMAD is a marine protection organisation, our volunteers and staff come from a wide range of backgrounds, all with one thing in common: our love for wildlife and its conservation! In honour of 2020’s World Wildlife Day, Research Assistant Myrthe Bakker has written a blog post on her favourite member of the animal kingdom: Eurasian beavers! For World Wildlife Day I decided to write a little about the Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber). Having worked on a project about the beavers in the past I became fascinated by their biology and behaviours!  Eurasian beavers are a keytone species for their environment; they manage water levels with their dams which trap sediment, improve water quality, recharge groundwater tables and increase cover and foraging grounds for fish. If a beaver settles in an area, other animals are likely to settle in the same vicinity soon after. As the largest rodents in Europe, Eurasian beavers can grow to be up to 1 metre in length with a 30 centimetre tail, weigh between 25 and 30 kg and have a lifespan of 7-8 years. Social animals, the beavers gather in colonies formed of only one dominant breeding pair and including up to 12 individuals. With their sharp teeth they cut down trees and use these to build dams and lodges.  The species was once widespread across Europe and Asia, but by the beginning of the 20th century their numbers and range declined drastically due to over-hunting for their fur and castoreum.  In the early 1900s, experts estimated that there were only 8 populations left globally – approximately 1200 individuals. In response to the drastically low numbers, however, huge conservation efforts have lead to an incredible recovery in population numbers and distribution! In 2006, there was an estimated minimum global population of 639,000 individuals. Presently, the population numbers are still increasing, and Eurasian beavers are listed as “Least Concern” on the IUCN red list!  Eurasian beaver hunting underwater (Photo: Louis-Marie Preau via bioGraphic) Eurasian beavers are a fantastic example of what we stand to gain from clear, well-planned conservation initiatives. Species can be brought back from the brink of extinction to thrive in high numbers and generate a huge number of benefits for the ecosystems around them.  Do you have a favourite animal? Leave us a comment to tell us a little about why you love them, and what you would like to do to help them! 

Hi, I’m Selina! So a little background story: I was born and raised on the island Ameland. This island lies in the middle of the Wadden Sea World heritage area in the northern part of the Netherlands. I grew up working in the hotel of my parents, so I have a lot of experience in the hospitality industry also due to my training as a hotel manager. In my childhood I also had a lot of beautiful nature around me. Thanks to all of this, I have developed a passion for the protection and conservation of the marine environment with a main focus on whales, dolphins and other marine animals through research and environmental education.  I started my Bachelor Coastal zone management with major Marine Biology. For this bachelor study I did an internship with DMAD for a total of 9 months to assist Aylin with her PhD thesis on the interaction between cetaceans and the marine traffic in the Bosporus, Istanbul. Despite the fact that her thesis had nothing to do with the hospitality industry I still put some of my experience and skills to good use in the field and in the office. I enjoyed living and working with her there and learned a lot in those few months!  I recently graduated and, by coincidence, Aylin and I came into contact again. Long story short…now I am back at DMAD as a Volunteer Coordinator for the Montengero Dolphin Research project! I hope I can be a good addition to DMAD team!  I have been here for a week now and have experienced so much, it reminds me of the adventurous time I had in Istanbul, it’s like coming home! And that’s the charm of the Balkans! To find out more about our internships and volunteering opportunities, please click here! 

I am excited to continue working in conservation with DMAD and broaden my experience working with marine mammals! In May 2019, I graduated from the University of Vermont with a BSc in Environmental Studies and Wildlife Biology. During my time at college, I had the opportunity to study abroad in Patagonia, Chile for one semester. There, I conducted research on the endangered huemul deer species through live sightings and fecal pellet densities while we trekked through the Patagonian region – from the southern tip of South America to the northern part of the Aysén region.  My time in Patagonia solidified the fact that I wanted to pursue conservation research. Since then, I have been building my skillset through various jobs and internships in the United States. I love being outdoors and getting to know new places through their ecological lens, but also want to play a part in protecting the areas and species that I, and so many of us, value and depend on. Before coming to Montenegro, I met up with the team in Turkey to participate in their annual cetacean survey in the Levantine Sea. I am excited to continue working in conservation with DMAD and broaden my experience working with marine mammals. As this is only my second time in Europe, I am also looking forward to exploring a new part of the world!

WWF Turkey and DMAD’s important new project Introduction WWF-Turkey and DMAD conducted their first seasonal survey effort on the 4th of January 2020 in the Istanbul Strait after a break of almost 5 years. The survey also covered the neighbouring water of the Marmara and Black Seas in addition to the strait itself with the aim of further developing the photo-identification catalogue of bottlenose dolphins which will eventually reveale the movement and residency patterns as well as the population size of this ‘At Risk’ species.  The Istanbul Strait is known as a biological corridor both for top predators and their prey. Its sustainable management means the well-being of not only the strait itself but also the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. Its vulnerable habitat is under heavy human pressure from marine traffic to pollution. Daily marine traffic in the Strait reaches up to 2500 vessels and the marine pollution leaves no clean zones for either marine animals or humans. The same habitat is also under a more recent threat of an ignorant project called “Channel Istanbul” which aims to create a man-made channel  (effectively a second Istanbul Strait) which will have irreversible consequences for all local marine and terrestrial fauna and flora by draining the Black Sea, introducing invasive species and increasing pollution rates within the Aegean Sea. As a team of researchers, we have one and only one goal in mind; to protect our home and its inhabitants! For this purpose, our dedicated survey in the Istanbul Strait has been launched!  Survey Day Within the first two hours of the survey, the team came across three different groups of bottlenose dolphins, including some juveniles. This was not an uncommon sighting for this area and the groups stayed near the boat for approximately 40 minutes in total. The team collected behavioural data and photos to update a photo identification catalogue that has been added to for 10 years. As we travelled north, we encountered another pod of bottlenose dolphins, as well as endangered harbour porpoise. As we returned South, we encountered another large pod of bottlenose dolphins. Therefore, in only 8 hours, we encountered over 8 groups of cetaceans with new-borns and juvenilles within the group, a hotspot which we are all – from the public to the authorities – duty bound to protect. The Istanbul Strait also offers a perfect spot to observe, enjoy and support wildlife observations. Dolphin parks, on the other hand subject dolphins to a lifetime of misery. Just a few of the many misfortunes they encounter include: Tanks too shallow for dolphins to properly dive in which means that they cannot avoid the midday sun and often get sunburn and blistering on their backs. Tanks which are far too small can lead to depression and self-harming behaviours. Dolphins can swim up to a hundred kilometres in a day yet are normally kept in tanks which are only tens of metres wide. This can lead to behaviours rarely experienced in the wild such as deliberate beaching and gnawing on walls and gates. The repeated banging of the head against walls has been documented in orcas. Alongside this dolphins are subject to outbursts of aggression from tank mates who are frustrated. Food deprivation. Dolphins are kept hungry in order to teach them to learn new unnatural behaviours or participate in ‘swim-with’ activities. Labelled by the industry as ‘positive reinforcement’ or ‘operant conditioning’, this practice is the only way to get dolphins to accustomed to human intreractions and to learn tricks for human enjoyment. Unsuitable matching. Dolphins are regularly paired in groups with dolphins which were captured far away from one another leading them to not be able to communicate with one another and raising stress levels Tanks with poor quality water. Some tanks have very poor water quality which are not treated properly due to litter thrown into the tanks by crowds and bacterial infections. This leads to visible sores and lesions on the dolphins. Some parks combat this by adding lots of chlorine to the tanks. At best this causes severe irritation to the eyes and at worst it can cause permanent sighting impairment.  So grabs some binoculars and make the most of the fantastic wildlife that can be seen in its natural environment and keep your eyes peeled for another article on the horror of dolphin parks. To keep up-to-date with our research, surveys and much more follow us on facebook and instagram! If you are interested in joining any of our surveys in the future we’d love to hear from you! Drop us an email us at: [email protected]. 

I’m Izzy, I love cetaceans and I get to spend the next couple of months in Montenegro working, living and breathing dolphins (and mountain air!). After graduating from the University of Exeter with a BSc in Zoology, I had a keen interest to gain experience in real research. My passion lies with marine mammals, being lucky enough to have seen cetaceans all around the world, but the increasing pressures humans are applying to the marine environment coupled with the tiny amount we know is terrifying and has advanced my interest into a future career.   I already had some field experience through field courses such as to the Galapagos Islands and marine mammal surveys with the charity MARINE Life, but responsibilities had always ended after data collection. I therefore applied to become part of the MDR team to help ‘behind the scenes’ in an area where little has previously been done. Time is split between surveys and office work, so no week is ever the same! We do land surveys from Herceg Novi in the north and into Albania in the south, with each location having stunning views of the impressive mountainous scenery, even better on a morning survey watching the sunrise over the sea. When we’re not off finding dolphins, there’s a wealth of things to learn and do from data analysis to presentations in schools and beach cleans. Working in a team consisting of such a variety of individuals of various ages, backgrounds and nationalities is brilliant with refreshing perspectives on ideas and projects and is key in disseminating our work effectively. From this internship I hope to go on to do a master’s and work towards a career in research or conservation, and I have learnt so much here to help me pursue this path.