Montenegro Dolphin Research
Where research meets public outreach for a holistic conservation approach
Since Montenegro Dolphin Research’s creation in September 2016, the DMAD and MDR team have completed over 900 land surveys and over 150 boat surveys.
Who We Are
The Adriatic Sea is one of the richest cetacean habitats in the Mediterranean Sea, with a wide variety of species with varying conservation statuses all utilising this unique basin. However, the same cetaceans are subjected to various anthropogenic threats such as habitat degradation, prey depletion, by-catch, marine vessel traffic and pollution. Without dedicated research effort uncovering the roadmap to preventing population declines, effective conservation strategies to mitigate these threats cannot be achieved. This is particularly critical for data deficient regions.
Montenegrin waters have historically received a lack of year-round cetacean survey efforts, unlike countries in the northern Adriatic Sea. In 2016, DMAD – Marine Mammals Research Association initiated a conservation effort called Montenegro Dolphin Research, which became a committed sister-NGO in 2021, in order to highlight the necessity of transboundary cetacean conservation between Montenegro and its neighbouring countries. This is a goal we are achieving each and every day, with cross-border collaborative projects and studies both past and ongoing.
The aim of the Montenegro Dolphin Research is to notify the public of the benefit of environmental cooperation and its extremely important role in conservation. MDR undertakes a year-round survey effort in the coastal waters of Montenegro to collect baseline knowledge on distribution patterns and encounter rates of the bottlenose and striped dolphins. The research also targets photo identification in order to define the residency patterns in Montenegro. Finally, MDR aims to encourage community development through the active involvement of a wide range of stakeholders from fishermen to early career researchers and volunteers.
The MDR team, alongside its passionate and dedicated students have put meticulous effort into conducting scientific studies to allow for future conservation efforts to be tailored to the waters of Montenegro. Via the creation of scientific literature, and the publication of this through journals or conference attendance, we are uncovering and sharing more secrets of Montenegro’s blue world.
Montenegrin waters have historically received a lack of year-round cetacean survey efforts, unlike countries in the northern Adriatic Sea. In 2016, DMAD – Marine Mammals Research Association initiated a conservation effort called Montenegro Dolphin Research, which became a committed sister-NGO in 2021, in order to highlight the necessity of transboundary cetacean conservation between Montenegro and its neighbouring countries. This is a goal we are achieving each and every day, with cross-border collaborative projects and studies both past and ongoing.
The aim of the Montenegro Dolphin Research is to notify the public of the benefit of environmental cooperation and its extremely important role in conservation. MDR undertakes a year-round survey effort in the coastal waters of Montenegro to collect baseline knowledge on distribution patterns and encounter rates of the bottlenose and striped dolphins. The research also targets photo identification in order to define the residency patterns in Montenegro. Finally, MDR aims to encourage community development through the active involvement of a wide range of stakeholders from fishermen to early career researchers and volunteers.
The MDR team, alongside its passionate and dedicated students have put meticulous effort into conducting scientific studies to allow for future conservation efforts to be tailored to the waters of Montenegro. Via the creation of scientific literature, and the publication of this through journals or conference attendance, we are uncovering and sharing more secrets of Montenegro’s blue world.
Our Interns and Volunteers
An important part of the project is the education of our interns and volunteers. By the end of 2022 DMAD had trained more than 200 interns from more than 30 different countries. All of whom took important knowledge and research skills back to their home countries to increase the effectiveness of marine mammal research and conservation worldwide. Are you interested in interning or volunteering with MDR? Find out more here or send an email to [email protected]
Public Outreach
Research on its own is never enough to facilitate effective conservation without community involvement. One of MDRs key goals is to conduct public outreach events including school visits, beach cleans and community days to raise awareness of the threats that dolphins are facing in Montenegrin waters and show that small changes from individuals can make a big difference! MDR does school visits and presentations to get involved in bringing education to life; from arts & crafts and games in kindergartens, right the way to complex university lectures. We also conduct beach cleans which actively encourage community participation, building community strength and a collective ecological conscience. MDR also produces a number of community outreach activities to increase understanding about our marine life in Montenegro. We target these to both adults and kids but find sometimes the adults enjoy the crafts and the games just as much as the kids! The outreach is a particularly exciting involvement for our interns and volunteers, and our wide range of students from varying backgrounds and nationalities always contribute new and exciting ideas!
Have you got an educational establishment or community group that would like to hear from us? Send us an e-mail at: [email protected] and we’ll get back to you.
Have you got an educational establishment or community group that would like to hear from us? Send us an e-mail at: [email protected] and we’ll get back to you.
Citizen-Science Network
Montenegro Dolphin Sightings Network has been established to collect dolphin sightings from citizen scientists across Montenegro’s coast and waters. We are asking individuals to submit information regarding the location, time and date, plus a photo if possible, of all dolphin sightings via email, Facebook, WhatsApp or Viber. The data will be used for research, tracking and photo identification. This is a vital community contribution which can allow us to understand the movement patterns of our marine mammals outside of our survey efforts.
Every sighting will be entered into a prize draw to win a boat trip with our researchers!
WhatsApp/Viber – +382 68 324918
“The Montenegro Dolphin Research Association was an amazing experience with a great team that taught me a lot of techniques to be a competent marine biologist. From waking up at 5am sharp to go do surveys to doing beach cleanings with the locals in Montenegro, I really enjoyed my time there and especially the staff that was helping us and at the same time making our stay feel like home!”
Jordi Toskan, MSc student at IMBRSea
“I would highly recommend DMAD for anyone wishing to gain experience within the marine conservation field. I enjoyed my time here and was involved in research, data collection, community outreach and education projects. Along with useful training on relevant software’s, there are plenty of opportunities to be creative through your own ideas which feel valued here by a great team.”
Jodie Smith, UK – Gap year to gain experience