With the intention of better understanding the causes of litter pollution and waste in Montenegro’s areas of natural beauty, the Montenegro Dolphin Research team conducted a brand audit of waste collected on a recent clean of Bar’s public beach. Research assistant Elle Sibthorpe writes… As a cetacean research programme the issue of waste and ocean plastic – although not directly related to the Montenegro Dolphin Research project – is an issue of such magnitude that it cannot be ignored. While there are many factors contributing to the decline in numbers of dolphins and whales sighted in the Southern Adriatic, litter is a constant feature of walks, surveys, boat trips and even inland hikes enjoyed by our team. Not only is this damaging to Montenegro’s incredibly beautiful and varied natural environment, but it is directly impacting upon the natural habitat of cetaceans that are already so at risk.  Communities, conservationists, NGOs and local businesses alike have a fantastic network here in Montenegro, taking on the responsibility of collecting and dealing with the waste that washes up in their lakes, rivers and oceans – but is it right that such groups should be bearing the brunt of the work?  In November our interns facilitated a community beach clean in Bar with the express intention of analysing the waste collected and conducting a brand audit in an attempt to identify which companies are the heaviest polluters in the area. Thanks to fantastic public involvement we were able to collect nine 200L bin liners of waste within a two hour period, which then required a further two hours of separating, counting and analysis from our volunteer team. The survey was conducted over a 300m section of pebble beach, following the protocol of the #breakfreefromplastic global brand audit.   The range of items collected was as we expected, based on previous beach cleans, and included significant numbers of personal care products, discarded fishing gear, packaging material and household products. Of the 1755 items collected, however, two categories of waste dominated. An incredible 666 items were classified as Food Packaging and 659 as Smoking Materials, working out at 37.9% and 37.5% respectively. To have more than 75% of the total waste collected derive from two categories is perhaps shocking, but does allow us to clearly identify the major causes of waste and establish targeted actions for its reduction.  We quickly identified an issue with fulfilling the initial aim of the survey: the nature of cigarette butts (which accounted for 99.7% of Smoking Materials collected) means that identifying their brand is incredibly difficult, particularly when they have spent time disintegrating in salt water. The fact that they degrade so quickly does not suggest that they are not detrimental to the environment, however. The majority of cigarette butts are made of a plastic called cellulose acetate in the form of thin, fibrous strands packed closely together. While cellulose acetate can be recycled, the majority of facilities are not equipped to do so, and the fact that the littering of cigarette butts is such a widely accepted practice means that few ever reach the recycling centres at all. Directing our attention instead to Food Packaging, we found that the most prevalent items were aluminium cans, which represented 37.8% of the category total, followed by plastic bottles at 22.4%. Within this, beer and energy drink cans were the most commonly found items, with local brand Nik from the Trebjesa Brewery based in Nikšić, Montenegro taking the top spot, and Guarana (Serbia) and Holsten (Germany) featuring in the top five.        A number of conclusions could be drawn from this information. Does the fact that a local brand features so strongly indicate that consumers are preferring to shop close to home and avoid imported goods? Is it therefore a sad indictment that even local companies are not taking sufficient care to ensure that their packaging is dealt with appropriately after the point of consumption? There are, however, some initiatives that do work well to encourage consumers to dispose of their litter responsibly. One example of this would be glass bottle deposit schemes operated by many companies in Montenegro – including Trebeja Brewery – which begs the question of why such methods are being passed over in favour of single-use items?  Sadly, large, conglomerate brands were not absent from our findings. Of the overall total of items collected, Coca Cola appeared as the second most prevalent identifiable brand – corroborating allegations that have emerged steadily over the last few years that the company is one of the world’s most polluting brands.  Identifying items collected according to #breakfreefromplastic protocol Discarded cigarette butts have a huge impact upon marine life Collecting waste from Bar’s public beach #breakfreefromplastic       So what do these findings mean for our local community here in Bar? Currently, recycling facilities are very few in Montenegro, and there is not yet the infrastructure in place to effectively deal with recyclable waste. As part of our conservation efforts, the MDR team takes their personal recycling to a centre close to Podgorica, and a map of similar facilities can be found here. However, without doubt the single most effective way that we can improve the problem of waste in Montenegro is through reducing our consumption of unnecessary packaging, and asking tough questions of brands and companies that are not currently taking responsibility for the waste the enjoyment of their products creates. 

I am an English Literature graduate from Bath, U.K. Over a year ago I decided I wanted to make a change in career path and work in environmental conservation and animal welfare.  I’ve always been highly passionate about animal welfare and caring for habitats, and have enjoyed gaining previous experience in conservation projects.  I came across DMAD on Facebook and, after reading about the training that the internship offers, was keen to know more. I hadn’t actually heard of the software programs used, but this was a reason that I wanted to know more – I want to know as much as possible and you can never really stop learning. Particularly because I do not have a biological background this was a fantastic opportunity to enhance my skills and learn from those who do! I have not set my career path on marine conservation because I would like to help in a number of different conservation areas. I was pleased to have this opportunity to research how to protect marine mammals because before arriving I had been investigating the issues the oceans face. I am spending six months with DMAD so I am excited to learn a number of skills which I can carry on using in the future. Carrying out my own research projects will teach me more about marine mammals, their habitats and how to carry out and formulate the research. I am excited to see where this opportunity leads me!

Our Montenegro Dolphin Research interns had a brilliant morning last week in Podgorica running an interactive session on Montenegro’s ceatceans with children at the Maša International Kindergarten!  It’s an exciting (if slightly daunting!) task to step into a room full of children with the idea of introducing them to conservation, but we could not have hoped for a better audience than the wonderful class at Maša Internationl Kindergarten. The whole group was already familiar with dolphins and whales, taking the time to teach our team the Serbian terms for whale (“kut”) and dolphin (“delfin”), and were delighted to discover just how many of them live within kilometers of their kindergarten!  In Montenegrin waters there are 4 species of dolphin and two species of whale. We introduced each species with pictures and key facts, eventually playing a game in which the class was asked to guess whether our ‘fun facts’ referred to whales or dolphins. Once they had fully understood the differences between the two, we listened to recordings of dolphin clicks and whale calls. By listening to the sounds of cetaceans communicating they understood that these animals, like them, have friends that they communicate with and that loud, external noises can interrupt these important channels.  As in our presentations for older students, we place a strong focus on the effects of plastic pollution and overconsumption on marine life. At DMAD we believe that conservation needs to come into every aspect of life, and that no one is too young to grasp the importance of the impact that they personally can have on the world. In the case of young children, we often find that lessons learned in school quickly make their way into the consciousness of parents and other adults as their children pass on their knowledge outside of school.  With this in mind, we spent the second half of our presentation talking about the presence of litter and plastic in Montenegro’s oceans. We showed the children photographs from our recent beach clean of Maljevik Plaza in Sutomore organized by NVO Naša Akcija and asked them how they thought we could make the beaches a cleaner, safer environment for humans and cetaceans – and everything in between – in the future. Their answers were varied, but all agreed that putting our rubbish in the garbage – and not simply dropping it on the ground – was key.  When working in conservation it’s easy to focus on the negatives and difficulties we face in our attempts to protect the ocean. Spending the morning with such an enthusiastic and energetic group of budding conservationists reminded us that there is plenty of hope for the welfare of dolphins and whales!  We would like to extend a massive thank you to the staff at Maša for hosting us, and especially to the children for being a wonderful audience, and teaching us a few things too!

My name is Rosi, I’m 32 years old and for me the field of marine conservation is completely new… After high school I studied fashion design as my bachelor degree and continued with a postgraduate degree in journalism and communications for fashion. I’ve been working in the fashion and advertising industry for seven years.  However, I developed a strong interest in the current climate crisis and its causes over the years. Making conscious decisions like a vegan lifestyle, living sustainably and participating in climate demonstrations were the foundation for my choice of taking a closer look into conservation work. As the oceans sustain all life on earth, marine conservation and specifically marine mammals were my first choice. With DMAD I can get first hand impressions of what a conservationist’s work looks like. Going on land and boat surveys to watch and document dolphin encounters, study their behaviours and learn about the threats for marine mammals are the highlights of my time with the Montenegro Dolphin Research project.  As a creative person I have enjoyed learning the software to create representative maps and was able to design various social media layouts and posters for the project. Community Outreach is an equally important part for conservation work here, and also somewhere that I can apply my knowledge of communications and social media. Every member of the team brings an individual skill to the project and we all benefit from each other’s previous experiences and knowledge. Maybe the most important thing I have learned here is that you don’t need to be a scientist to do conservation. I am looking forward to where this experience will take me in life!

In this series research assistant S. Capitain introduces the topic of wildlife conservation and outlines the steps neccessary for conservation efforts to move from observation to action. Read the first installments of the series here – The Basics of Conservation and Research.  With research providing suitable knowledge about the situation at hand, the planning process can take over the lead. As mentioned in our last article, first decisions already need to be made before the main research even begins in order to assure efficient demand-led data acquisition. Such early decisions include – but are not limited to – the definition of a target species, the delineation of a research area and the establishment of an available budget. In the case of DMAD’s Montenegro Dolphin Research project, 4 species of cetacean are the target animals, surveyed in Montenegrin and partly Albanian seas, with a focus on basic environmental factors and marine traffic.  Further required decisions depend on the selected conservation approach, which mainly differ in focus depending on the specific situation in which they occur. Conservation designs can be ecosystem-focused, mostly focusing on preserving and improving health and integrity of the relations within the sea. Species protection-based conservation focuses on the target animal and its direct environment, guaranteeing the functionality of the factors it depends on and stands in direct relationship with. Essentially based on human welfare, the sustainable livelihood approach works towards a marine environment that can support the people depending on it in daily life and economy, for example through the improvement of fishing grounds. Either way, basic presuppositions include the exact definition of the protected areas and habitats, permitted activities and rights, enforcement strategies and time frame.  Several studies have shown that the most important part of the planning process is the involvement of all stakeholders, meaning all affected and interested groups in and around the defined area. That includes the scientists providing the data, the responsible governmental institutions and – most importantly – the general public such as fishermen, residents and businesses. With a lot of contrasting positions in the room, thorough conflict mitigation is essential. Extensive assessment and identification of stakeholders, their expectations and the distribution of costs and benefits need to be conducted to provide a plan that all parties can agree with and commit to for the long term. By including the later management instance in the planning process, the likelihood of a realistic and broadly consented plan increases sharply.  One way to balance involved stakeholder expectations is through the spatial planning method. Herein the “spatial and temporal distribution of human activities in marine areas [is allocated] to achieve ecological, economic and social objectives, […] usually specified through a political process”. Zones with different activity permissions and goals are tailored to their importance in each regard and the specific threats in each area. Namely managed as Marine Protected Areas (MPA), they are often part of a bigger conservation area. The integrated management allows for a “comprehensive way of planning and managing human activities so that they do not conflict with each other and so all factors are considered for the conservation and sustainable use” .  A prime example of this design approach has been operated in the world’s largest coral reef, the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, Australia. The planning process itself included at least two statutory phases of public participation – one before, one after the main zoning draft was discussed and decided on. To offer suitable preparation and guidance, multiple brochures with information material were provided. “Elected representatives, the media and indigenous communities were all targeted with information specifically written and formatted for their needs. A mix of technical, scientific and layman’s information were made widely available”. By including additional zoning provision, special management measures in certain area were put into place, such as the permission of traditional use of marine resources to practice the aborigines living marine culture. To mitigate overlapping Federal and State jurisdiction, an independent Australian Government agency was put in place for the protection and management of the Marine Park.  Their success is widely believed to result from the unexpected amount of public involvement. To name just one example of their achievement, recent studies suggest that several of the protected individual reefs are more resilient towards climate change than expected. They are better able to regenerate themselves, thereby acting as sinks estimated to be “able to supply larvae to almost half of the entire ecosystem in a single year”.  DMAD’s main task in its planning process was the supply of essential data (e.g. through our website and affiliate stranding network,  sancet.org), the consultation of decision-makers and participation in meetings. At the end of September 2019, we conducted several boat surveys in Güzelcamli, Turkey, to get a better understanding of the current cetacean population while the planning process of an MPA takes place. The observation of several striped dolphin groups with calves suggested that the area could be a nursing ground, making its protection even more important. We regularly talk to fishermen in the harbour and on our boat surveys to gain their point of view and understand their expectations and desires. Additionally, as a local group in Montenegro, we try to come up with possible MPA plans for the government to use and implement. In our next article, we will cover how a smooth transition from planning to implementation can be ensured. We will take a look at how Ireland mobilized its public, how a Mexican family managed to mobilize a whole town and how DMAD takes the public along on their quest to conserve the Montenegrin waters. References:Day, J.C. (2002). Zoning—lessons from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. Ocean & Coastal Management. 45(2): p. 139-156Bodkin, H. (2017). Hope for Great Barrier Reef with discovery of hardcore 100 able to withstand climate change. Online access: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2017/11/28/hope-great-barrier-reef-discovery-hardcore-100-able-withstand/ Last accessed: 28.09.2019

I’m a chemical engineer and I’ve been working in the textile and clothing industry for many years in Innovation and Sustainability. The recent attention on the issues of pollution caused by the fashion industry made me face many challenges, including finding solutions to tackle the impact of the textile waste and clothes leftover as well as the release of microplastics by synthetic fibers in wastewaters.  I’m a freediver and since I have always been passionate about the ocean and the marine biology, I have decided to take a leave of absence to devote myself to what I love most and moreover to give a contribution to the safeguarding of marine ecosystems and biodiversity. My love for nature and animals, particularly cetaceans, has driven me to want to embark on a new path of deepening and understanding their behaviour and the threats they are facing nowadays. With DMAD I had the opportunity to see up close what it means to work in research and conservation. I really enjoyed being in field with scientists and learning how to conduct dolphins surveys, but also working on data analysis and being involved in some other interesting programs like public outreach and citizen science.  I’m very happy I could be part of such an incredible and enthusiastic team!

DMAD Marine Mammal Association has been a blessing to me. After deciding to take a year out from University, I am grateful that I was able to pursue this opportunity as it has given me an abundance of knowledge, skills and wonderful memories. Here I can contribute to the conservation of marine mammals in remarkably picturesque setting on the Adriatic coast, immersed by the mountains, nature and old historic towns. I admire that this organisation distributes its time to research, data collection, community outreach and educating the next generation- which are all crucially important for successful conservation. As my first real experience working with an NGO, I now have an insight to each of these sectors, which also creates a diverse work pattern that is always exciting. It is great to spend some days in the office learning about bottlenose dolphins, their behaviours and threats, contributing to research and being taught valuable skills such as how to use GIS software. Then soon after getting to go on road trips along the Montenegrin coast to collect sighting data on dolphins and marine traffic. The surveys require patience, which is always worth it when you are rewarded with a sighting that creates a type of energy within a group of like-minded individuals that you are all able to enjoy and take pride in together. Conservation can sometimes be a bleak issue, however working in the field has energised me with motivation and optimism. I have realised that when you can appreciate your surroundings like the nature of Montenegro, plus being stimulated by other people who inspire you, it gives you more purpose and passion to continue to protect the environment through your hard work. Every intern here is slowly but surely adding their unique ideas and contributing together to improve conservation locally here for the dolphins. It is amazing to be a small part of that influential process and to watch it evolve over time. I now have a better understanding that there is unfortunately no quick fix in conservation, and instead of being disheartened by this we should be persistent as every action we take is raising awareness, helping to create a new culture of people who realise the significance of protecting the natural world. In order to do this, the science needs to be accessible for everyone, and I praise this organisation for teaching in ways that are permitting for all people and accepting people from a range of backgrounds as everyone has an impact.

On Saturday the 16th November volunteers from MDR and the local community set out to clean Krajlevska Plaza.  Accompanied by students from Meksiko School, who came along to support our efforts and get involved following MDR presentations in their ecology classes earlier this month (read about it here!), the team was able to collect 9 large bags of rubbish in just two hours. Intern Phoebe Thorpe writes… On Saturday the 16th volunteers from Montenegro Dolphin Reserach and from the local community cleaned Krajlevska Plaza. A a total of twenty two volunteers worked hard, had fun and managed to collect nine large bags of rubbish in only two hours! Everyone’s effort was represented in the result – a cleaner beach and a safer environement for cetaceans. The aim of our beach cleans is to reduce the waste on the beaches here in Bar. We also want to know what type of waste is ending up on the beach in order to set targeted actions to reduce and solve the issue of bad waste management. Even though we are not a waste management NGO it is important to us and many of our volunteers to reduce and tackle the problem of sea pollution. This is because an unhealthy sea means unhealthy dolphins!  To help us figure out the type of waste we collected and make sure that our efforts were meaningful, we decided to adopt a protocol developed by the Break Free From Plastic movement. We used data sheets to enter the type of material, amount and,. if identifiable, the brand of each item that we collected. Break Free From Plastic then takes this data and breaks down the results into sections and graphs of the different types of waste found, allowing them to identify which industries and companies need to take more responsibility for the waste they create.  In the 9 industrial sized bin bags we filled, with a volume of 200L each, we identified 1755 individual items of litter taken from a 300m stretch of beach. Of this, a massive 75% was made up of food packaging and smoking materials alone. Analysis of waste according to product type (graph by Franscesca Soster) Once the material was sorted and recorded we took the recyclable plastic and aluminium to a recycling unit at Donja Gorica, close to Podgorica, in the hopes that this waste won’t make it’s way back into Montenegro’s seas. It was rewarding for all of the MDR team to have the local community joining us and to see the enthusiasm surrounding the project. We intend to have a beach clean at least once a month, and hope to see the local community feeling welcome to get involved! Together we can heighten awareness of pollution and unnecessary waster, and create a more effective system for future generations in Montenegro! A happy team with a cleaner beach! (Photo by Eva Lambert) Collecting rubbish from the rocks Plastic bottles are big culprits and easy to avoid Members of Bar’s local community Undiscovered Montenegro came from Lake Skadar to get involved too! Intern Franscesca briefing volunteers Students from Meksiko School A chance for a short marine biology lesson! Volunteers Rosi, Grant and Natasa analysing waster To read more about Montenegro Dolphin Research please have a look through our blog! News and updates about future beach cleans will be featured on our facebook page or, if you’d like to get in touch with us to arrange a community or school presentation please drop us an email at [email protected].  

Our interns in Montenegro had great fun trekking and wine tasting near Lake Skadar with Undiscovered Montenegro yesterday! Our beach clean last weekend was attended by Emma and Ben Heywood from Undiscovered Montenegro and their three lovely children. Emma and Ben very kindly invited us hiking and wine tasting near to Lake Skadar where their family home and business is based. Lake Skadar is the largest lake in the Balkan peninsula and the Montenegrin portion is designated a national park. It is home to 270 bird species including some of Europe’s last remaining pelicans. It’s safe to say that great fun was had by everyone despite a few sore legs this morning! Önceki Sonraki

DMAD’s hard work has been recognised by MedPAN who have elected DMAD as a new partner The Mediterranean Protected Areas Network or MEDPAN was created in 1990 during a conference in Monaco with two main objectives of: Developing management tools for marine protected areas Sharing experience between managers of protected areas In October 2019, the Organisation consisted of 71 members, managing over 110 MPAs and 51 partners from 20 Mediterranean countries.  We are delighted to announce that at the 2019 regional workshop, “Management of highly mobile species across Mediterranean Marine Protected Areas” which was held from 12-14 November 2019 in Akyaka, Turkey, DMAD were elected as a partner. Not only will DMAD gain a great deal from the experiences of managers of marine protected areas but they will also be able to share their experiences and data collected with leaders of Turkish marine protected areas and managers from further afield.We are very grateful to MedPAN for electing us as a partner and look forward to a positive future together!