Archipelagos Institute took part on the 31st Annual Conference of the European Cetacean Society (ECS) in Middelfart, Denmark. Archipelagos’ researchers Niki Karagouni and Nikolina Mileva, contributed in the conference by presenting 2 research projects:
A) The assessment of spatial distribution, encounter rates and individual identification of unstudied delphinidae populations in the eastern Aegean Sea, Greece.
B) The predictive model for habitat mapping of common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) in the eastern Aegean Sea. This was developed through the analysis of Archipelagos’ past research data with the use of the R software for statistical computing
Our goal, through these publications, is to contribute in covering the large lack in knowledge that exists in relation to the dolphin populations in the Aegean Sea, as well as the way these interact with the local communities and mainly with the fishermen. This knowledge gap reflects the difficulty of marine mammal research, as this requires hundreds of survey hours in the open sea, throughout the year, by specialized researchers. The overarching aim of this field research for Archipelagos is to improve our comprehension of the factors that threaten marine mammals, but also marine ecosystems overall, aiming to be able to contribute to their substantial protection.
