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Archipelagos Intern Experience

An insight into conservation at Archipelagos

Sperm whales

Sperm whales in the northern and central Aegean, as we keep up the continuous research in the Greek seas

For several years now, we recognize one of the two sperm whales in the photo from the big part missing from its tail. The sperm whale is the largest toothed whale in the world, with females measuring 8 – 12 meters and males 16 – 18 meters and weighing 24 and 57 tons respectively. It
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Sea turtles of the Aegean Sea

The Aegean Sea welcomes three of the seven species of marine turtles that are found worldwide, namely the loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta), the green turtle (Chelonia mydas) and the leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea). The leatherback’s characteristic shell makes it easily recognisable, whereas the green turtle and loggerhead turtle are more difficult to distinguish.   The

Marine Mammal Behaviour Research

  The rapid decline of several marine mammal species such as dolphins and whales is a growing problem on a global scale. Losses in abundance have been especially important in the Mediterranean, a biodiversity hotspot which supports a diverse range of marine ecosystems. Marine mammals are threatened by various human activities and their effects, such

Research Expeditions over the Ikaria Trench 

During the research expeditions over the Ikaria Trench, the Archipelagos’ marine mammal team aim to gather data on the species living over this important hotspot, to increase our knowledge on their behaviour, distribution and density. Weather-allowing, boat surveys extend to  further areas during multiple-day research expeditions.  The surveys usually occur between the islands of Ikaria,

Kayak based-mapping of Posidonia seagrass meadows

My name is Liam P. Kennedy. I am from Annapolis, Maryland, U.S.A. and I am currently pursuing my Bachelors in Environmental Studies & Sciences: Geographic Information Systems (GIS) at Towson University. Currently, I am on a summer placement with Archipelagos, from June 2021 until late August 2021. My project at Archipelagos is to create maps

Assessment of microplastic accumulation on Posidonia oceanica seagrass meadows

I’m Imogen, a 22-year-old New Zealand intern currently in the Microplastic and Marine Mammal Team at Archipelagos on Lipsi Island. I am currently completing my masters in Evolutionary Biology via the MEME programme, with the intention to study conservation genetics in combination with field work. While my current study is officially based at Ludwig Maximilian

Photo Identification – An invaluable tool in cetacean research

Photo identification (Photo ID) is a method used within marine mammal research to identify individuals based on photographs. The identification of dolphins is done via the characteristics of their dorsal fins because these are as unique to each dolphin as fingerprints are to humans. The characteristics found on dorsal fins include scars, notches and variable

Great Data from 11 Boat surveys in 15 days by the Archipelagos’ Marine Mammal Research Team

We have recently had the opportunity to reopen our base on the Northern Aegean Island of Samos, which has been closed since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. This is an exciting change of pace for Archipelagos, as this marine region is a hotspot for many species of cetaceans, creating unequalled opportunities for boat surveys

Bioacoustic Research – Understanding Underwater Sounds

Bioacoustics is a field in biology that studies the way that sound is produced, dispersed and received by animals. Marine mammals are highly reliant on acoustics, due to the low reliability of other available senses, especially sight, in underwater environments. Furthermore, sound travels nearly five times faster in seawater than in air.    Dolphin acoustics

Monitoring Seabird Populations

Besides studying marine mammals and turtles, Archipelagos’ marine mammal team also collects data on the seabirds spotted during boat surveys. The number of individuals, species, and location of encountered seabirds is recorded by dedicated observers. In 2021 only, our team has already recorded more than 3000 sightings! The most common species include the Mediterranean shearwater,

Monitoring Diurnal Variation in Marine Macroinvertebrates

Our names are Irene and Lea. We are both fascinated by the ocean‘s complexity and therefore joined the Archipelagos Institute of Marine Conservation to get an insight into marine biology and conservation. Irene is completing a BSc. in Biology at the University of Sevilla and I (Lea) graduated from the University of Hamburg aftering completing

Comparison of Microplastic Accumulation in Native and Invasive Sea Urchins of the Aegean Sea

There are many problems facing the Mediterranean Sea. We have all heard of the issues with overfishing, warming water temperatures, invasive species, and plastic pollution. But how much do we know? And what is being done about it? Archipelagos is a Greek non-profit organisation founded in 1998, focused on conservation and research in the Aegean

Investigating the Macroinvertebrate Communities Living within the Posidonia oceanica Wracks

My name is Ellie and I am currently studying Biological Sciences at the University of Essex. Currently, I am on a placement year with Archipelagos, from October 2020 until July 2021. Here at Archipelagos, I have developed a marine-terrestrial based project investigating the macroinvertebrate communities living within the Posidonia oceanica wracks. Wrack can be defined

Creation of a Guide for Identification of the Aegean Sea Fish Species of the Littoral Zone

Katja Wolff, a Swiss-Greek intern from Paros island, Greece, who during her gap year worked on creating a fish ID guide based on the fish species she had been recording while on her visual-census surveys. For the creation of this guide she used photos she had collected along with some of her very own illustrations

Comparison of fish biodiversity and invasive fish species presence in different marine habitats, using remote underwater video method (RUV)Comparison of fish biodiversity and invasive fish species presence in different marine habitats, using remote underwater video method (RUV)

Migle worked as a member of the Marine conservation team at Archipelagos. She chose Archipelagos after hearing what a great platform it creates for a young scientist to get experience and work on exciting projects. Migle had been with Archipelagos for 9 months, working on a variety of projects and learning different methods. Her main

Assessment of the abundance of invasive fish with the use of a Remote Underwater Video (RUV) method

I am a recent graduate of Ecological and Environmental Sciences from the University of Edinburgh and I joined the Marine Ecology team in Lipsi for a 3-month internship. My project was focused on surveying the abundance of invasive fish in different habitats and at various bays around the island, using a Remote Underwater Video (RUV)

Working towards an improving seagrass mapping methodology

I am a recent graduate student from the University of Birmingham, UK, with a BSc in Geography. The GIS and Remote Sensing internship at Archipelagos stood out to me as it combined independent field projects using a variety of remote sensing techniques with interesting data analysis on research that focus on the most vulnerable ecological

Assessing Seagrass Health

My name is Roos and I’m studying Coastal and Marine management at Van Hall Larenstein, University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. During the 3 months I joined Archipelagos as an intern I was part of the marine ecology team on Lipsi Island. During my internship I worked on the data collection on Seagrass Health

Assessing the Biodiversity of Zooplankton in the Aegean Sea

My name is Lisa and I am studying Coastal and Marine management at Van Hall Larenstein University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. I joined the Marine Mammal team of Archipelagos on Lipsi Island for a 3-month internship. I have been given the opportunity to start a new project, which was a comparative study between

Remote Internship – a photo-identification study of the short-beaked common dolphin, Delphinus delphis

I study Animal Sciences at the University of Hawaii at Manoa in the United States. When I first started my remote internship, I thought it would be like learning like I am at the university. I was extremely wrong where I had the freedom and flexibility to customize my remote internship – how I learn,

Documentary filmmaking internship

‘Having recently graduated from a degree studying biomedical sciences in Edinburgh, I am currently working towards pursuing a career in science media, specifically relating to filmmaking. So, after finding out Archipelagos offered a documentary filmmaking internship, it was a very fitting decision to come to Greece for a few months. It has been great experience

Macro-invertebrates around Lipsi island

I am Jan and I am studying marine sciences at the Scottish association for marine sciences in Oban. I have joined the marine ecology team here on Lipsi between July and October 2020 and I recently set up a project on macro-invertebrates and their abundance/activity on different substrates and at different times of the day.

A remote project studying site fidelity in Delphinus delphis populations

As a remote intern on the Marine Mammal research team, much of my work focused on analysis of photo identification data. Previously, I have carried out research involving parasites in marine mammals at Smith College, but this internship provided me with the opportunity to gain experience with field work. Although I was not able to

Remote Internship – GIS for Marine Conservation

As a geography student from Nottingham Trent University in the UK I worked on a remote internship programme using GIS with Archipelagos for six weeks, opening doors to a new field of research in marine conservation. I began my placement from home on 15th June 2020 where my pre-existing GIS skills were put to the

Dolphins’ interactions with fish farms & assess the marine litter in the Aegean Sea.

My name is Caroline and I come from France, where I study agronomy and environmental science. After a study semester in the Netherlands to learn more about the aquaculture and marine resources management, I came to Archipelagos, until the summer, to be part of the Marine Mammal Team. I am working on two separate projects.

Seagrass distribution mapping

I am a master’s student in the Sea and Society master’s program at University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and I hold a master’s in computer science. Due to my technical background, I was very interested in the GIS and remote sensing internship that is offered at Archipelagos. I decided to spend my summer there and see

Tursiops truncatus (bottlenose dolphins) and their habitat use/ abundance in relation to different seasons

My name is Luke Rodgers and I study Marine biology at Queen’s University in Belfast. I came to Archipelagos as part of my placement year and will be working on the Island of Lipsi from January until the end of June, here I joined the Marine mammal team in their ongoing research in the Aegean
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