The Green Balkans' spring survey of marine birds and mammals in the Black Sea has ended. After some waiting for suitable forecast and compliance with the weather conditions, on May 10 we started the transect study from Balchik. With the alternation of almost ideal conditions and worsening of the weather, we managed to complete the transects in the planned period.
Interesting sightings were recorded of thousands of feeding Yelkouan shearwaters along with dolphins, swimming around the vessel groups of dolphins, mothers with cubs and many others, presented in the album below.
But why do we have to make an effort at all? Cetaceans, for example, are not only charismatic and beautiful to observe, but also a very important part of the ecosystem. They are supreme predators and as such are a wonderful indicator of the state of the entire ecosystem and all its units down the food chain. The same goes for seabirds. You know that in nature everything is connected - algae and plankton, which are food for crustaceans and small fish, and they in turn are food for larger species of fish, with which dolphins and birds feed on. Thus it becomes clear that if the condition of the low levels in the food chain - algae and plankton - is good, then the condition of the top will be the same. That's why biologists focus on them, just as your doctor examines individual parameters of your biochemistry to assess your general condition. That is why our efforts are focused on tracking the number and density of marine mammal and bird populations. Accumulating more data allows us to make comparisons, track trends and use more reliable statistics to respond in a timely manner if the ecosystem needs our help.
The collected data will still be processed by our experts, but for now we can say that the ratio between the three species of cetaceans is generally preserved - the most numerous are the Harbour porpoises. A certain difference compared to the data from previous spring surveys can be seen with regard to dolphins - encounters with common dolphins predominate, at the expense of observations of bottlenose dolphins, which have traditionally been more numerous. This difference may be due to the predominant fish species currently along our coast.
Enjoy the album with photos from the past fruitful days at sea and do not forget to respect and protect nature - it is the source of all the resources that our society needs to function and exist.
Contacts:
Dimitar Popov - dpopov@greenbalkans.org
Galina Meshkova - gmeschkova@greenbalkans.org
Interesting sightings were recorded of thousands of feeding Yelkouan shearwaters along with dolphins, swimming around the vessel groups of dolphins, mothers with cubs and many others, presented in the album below.
But why do we have to make an effort at all? Cetaceans, for example, are not only charismatic and beautiful to observe, but also a very important part of the ecosystem. They are supreme predators and as such are a wonderful indicator of the state of the entire ecosystem and all its units down the food chain. The same goes for seabirds. You know that in nature everything is connected - algae and plankton, which are food for crustaceans and small fish, and they in turn are food for larger species of fish, with which dolphins and birds feed on. Thus it becomes clear that if the condition of the low levels in the food chain - algae and plankton - is good, then the condition of the top will be the same. That's why biologists focus on them, just as your doctor examines individual parameters of your biochemistry to assess your general condition. That is why our efforts are focused on tracking the number and density of marine mammal and bird populations. Accumulating more data allows us to make comparisons, track trends and use more reliable statistics to respond in a timely manner if the ecosystem needs our help.
The collected data will still be processed by our experts, but for now we can say that the ratio between the three species of cetaceans is generally preserved - the most numerous are the Harbour porpoises. A certain difference compared to the data from previous spring surveys can be seen with regard to dolphins - encounters with common dolphins predominate, at the expense of observations of bottlenose dolphins, which have traditionally been more numerous. This difference may be due to the predominant fish species currently along our coast.
Enjoy the album with photos from the past fruitful days at sea and do not forget to respect and protect nature - it is the source of all the resources that our society needs to function and exist.
Contacts:
Dimitar Popov - dpopov@greenbalkans.org
Galina Meshkova - gmeschkova@greenbalkans.org
