This year too, there were sightings of all three Black Sea species – bottlenose dolphin, common dolphin and harbour porpoise. The ratio between the species was the usual for this season. We have the most sightings of harbour porpoise, followed by sightings of common dolphin and the least of bottlenose dolphins.
Our sea is unique. There really is no other on the planet that is almost completely enclosed, with a large catchment and a permanent separation between the surface layer, which contains oxygen and all the life, and the deeper layer, which is filled with hydrogen sulfide and inhabited only by highly specialized bacteria.
Did you know that about 87% of the volume of the Black Sea is oxygen-free?
All of this, among other factors, makes the Black Sea very vulnerable to pollution, eutrophication, invasive species, and endangered native species. Therefore, it is important to study its condition, monitor for changes, and, based on the collected data, implement workable solutions to any potential or existing problem.
Marine mammals are at the top of the food chain in the Black Sea. As such, they are an extremely useful indicator of its condition. When there is a problem in an ecosystem, no matter at what trophic level it occurs, it always spreads to the top of the food chain. Thus, by regularly monitoring the condition of the top predators, we can detect such problems, determine their cause and implement measures to prevent them.
This is the main goal of the annual expeditions to study the number of marine mammals, which Green Balkans conducts with the indispensable support of our long-standing partners from OceanCare. A team of specialists and volunteers with a vessel collect data along predetermined transects. The work is not easy at all and looks like a summer vacation only in a picture. In addition to getting up very early and getting little sleep, it usually includes hours spent in the strong sun and wind. But the data collected is truly invaluable. After the field part is completed, they are processed and analyzed. This way we get results that, when systematic, can tell us a lot about the sea and its condition.
Our sea is unique. There really is no other on the planet that is almost completely enclosed, with a large catchment and a permanent separation between the surface layer, which contains oxygen and all the life, and the deeper layer, which is filled with hydrogen sulfide and inhabited only by highly specialized bacteria.
Did you know that about 87% of the volume of the Black Sea is oxygen-free?
All of this, among other factors, makes the Black Sea very vulnerable to pollution, eutrophication, invasive species, and endangered native species. Therefore, it is important to study its condition, monitor for changes, and, based on the collected data, implement workable solutions to any potential or existing problem.
Marine mammals are at the top of the food chain in the Black Sea. As such, they are an extremely useful indicator of its condition. When there is a problem in an ecosystem, no matter at what trophic level it occurs, it always spreads to the top of the food chain. Thus, by regularly monitoring the condition of the top predators, we can detect such problems, determine their cause and implement measures to prevent them.
This is the main goal of the annual expeditions to study the number of marine mammals, which Green Balkans conducts with the indispensable support of our long-standing partners from OceanCare. A team of specialists and volunteers with a vessel collect data along predetermined transects. The work is not easy at all and looks like a summer vacation only in a picture. In addition to getting up very early and getting little sleep, it usually includes hours spent in the strong sun and wind. But the data collected is truly invaluable. After the field part is completed, they are processed and analyzed. This way we get results that, when systematic, can tell us a lot about the sea and its condition.
