October 7th 2024

Cuvier’s beaked whales in the waters of the NE Aegean – one of the most important marine mammal species monitored by Archipelagos’ researchers for the past 25 years.

The beaked whales are some of the least known cetacean species globally, but also one of the most impressive. They live in small social groups in marine areas with deep trenches.

The large knowledge gaps about beaked whales globally is also due to the fact that while searching for their prey they can do deep dives, the deepest having been recorded at almost 3000 meters and with a longer duration of 3 hours and 42 minutes.

The key threat for beaked whales is underwater noise pollution caused by explosions, seismic explorations and various frequencies of naval or other strong sonars.

Despite the increasingly alarming rate of human stressors impacting marine and terrestrial ecosystems for decades, the fact that these large mammals continue to survive in our seas gives us great hope, but also must remind us of our great shared responsibility to ensure they can survive and flourish!