Pietroluongo, G., Gerussi, T., Mayrhofer, N., Quintana Martin-Montalvo, B., Ashok, K., Miliou, A., Antichi, S. Diet ecology assessment of cetaceans and Mediterranean monk seals stranded on Samos Island, Greece. World Marine Mammal Conference 2019.

Abstract

An assessment of the stomach content was performed for 15 dolphins (6 Stenella coeruleoalba, 3 Tursiops truncatus and 6 Delphinus delphis) and 4 Monachus monachus found stranded along the shore of Samos Island, Eastern Aegean Sea – Greece, between 2017 and 2019. Percentage by number (%N), percentage of occurrence (%O), percentage by weight (%W) and Index of Relative Importance (IRI) were used to investigate the occurrence and relative importance of the prey for the specimens when the categorisation of the stomach contents was possible. Despite some stomachs being found empty, the results of the study show a pelagic and demersal prey species composition for both cetaceans and M. monachus. Such research is crucial to empower efficient conservation strategies especially for those species like M. monachus and D. delphis which are facing a drastic decline caused by anthropogenic impacts in the Mediterranean Sea.