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Archipelagos Intern Experience

An insight into conservation at Archipelagos

Daily Monitoring of Macroplastics

The long-term macroplastic monitoring project began in early June 2017 and has since been carried out almost daily in two beaches of SE Samos. Every weekday, two members of the research team go to the sites to collect all the debris left by the public and washed in by the sea. All the collected debris

The Influence of Environmental Factors on the Spatial Distribution of Dolphin Populations in the Aegean Sea

Due to the large biodiversity of cetacean species inhabiting its waters, the Aegean Sea is considered an incredibly important marine area. Archipelagos Institute is conducting a study about the influence of environmental factors on the spatial distribution of dolphins. In particular, this study is focused on two dolphin species that are facing a dramatic population

Μapping of Posidonia oceanica using a Drone

Posidonia oceanica is an endemic seagrass species in the Mediterranean Sea. It has a key ecological role and many impacts on its ecosystem. Its role in fisheries production and in sediment stabilization are well-known. In fact, seagrass meadows provide habitats for a number of threatened species. However, throughout the Mediterranean these meadows are declining at

Jackal Research Project at Samos International Airport, Summer 2017

The golden jackal Canis aureus Linnaeus is the rarest canid species in Greece. The species has experienced a population decline over the past three decades on both Samos and in Greece in general. It is protected under Annex V of the EU Habitats Directive. The European Conservation Status however for the golden jackal in Greece

Ocean Acidification Effects on Venus casina Shells: A Preliminary Experimental Project

The Ocean Acidification (OA) problem is referred to a reduction of the sea water pH caused primarily by the anthropogenic increasing uptake of CO2 from the atmosphere. There is a direct relationship between atmospheric CO2 and ocean pH: as CO2[atm]-uptake increases, the pH drops. Industrial activities have resulted in an increase in atmospheric CO2 concentrations

Development of a Spatio-Temporal Model as a Prediction Indicator of Cetacean Strandings in the Eastern Aegean Sea

Numerous reasons are known as to why marine mammals strand, however, unfortunately it would seem the case that human activity is be a key contributor to these deaths. Data has been collected by the Archipelagos Institute of Marine Conservation ranging from 1994 to the present day, incorporating factors such as seasonality, cause of death, condition

Monitoring the Bird Populations in the Wetlands of Samos

The Psili Ammos wetland on Samos is a very valuable habitat for many different bird species, including breeding, migratory, endemic, and threatened species. However, for the past five years or so, there have been increasing human impacts including illegal bird hunting, illegal joyriding with quad bikes within the dry wetland in the summer months and

Eco-Navigation: A Citizen Science Platform for Sailors and Sea Enthusiasts to Report Their Observations

Eco-Navigation is a key action developed by Archipelagos Institute, aiming to increase awareness but also public engagement on the biodiversity and conservation of the Mediterranean Sea. Eco-Navigation aims to record valuable data, through reported sightings by sailors and sea enthusiasts on their observations of rare and protected animals such as marine mammals and turtles,  or

Invasive Algae Caulerpa cylindracea: Factors and Consequences of the Distribution in Aegean Sea

With climate change and ocean acidification of the seas, more alien species are spreading in our seas. The green macroalgae, Caulerpa cylindracea, is considered an invasive species native from Australia that has rapidly spread across the Mediterranean since 1926. C. cylindracea colonises a variety of substrata, and its dominating presence has been found to alter

Quantification of Microplastics in Dolphin Digestive Systems

With the worldwide increase in the production of plastics over the last century, in combination with the overall lack of plastic waste management, the impact of plastics on marine environments has become a critical concern. Microplastics develop from the degradation of larger plastics, such as plastic bottles, bags, and many other improperly discarded objects, that

Invasive Fish Species Distribution: Research and Citizen Science Projects

Since the opening of the Suez Canal between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea there has been a steady flow of invasive species entering the Aegean Sea out of which there are over 32 established fish species. At Archipelagos Institute we are monitoring the spread of these species in the region of the NE

Evaluation of Macroplastic Debris on two Beaches of Samos Island

The macro-plastic project primarily focuses on measuring the influx of waste items into the Aegean Sea onto specified beaches at the main Archipelagos Base. It is a renowned fact that human activity has had, an is continuing to have, a significant impact on the health of the environment and functioning of both marine and terrestrial

Scouts Visit at Archipelagos Institute

Among the numerous awareness-raising activities we carry out year-round, Archipelagos was happy to host a group of 33 scouts ages 7-11 from Samos, Chios and Leros islands on Tuesday, June 20th. In the morning, they all attended a lesson on the wildlife of the Aegean and watched animations on the Aegean wildlife, all produced by

Firefighting With Seawater: Effects on Soil Properties in Samos Island

The island of Samos is prone to wildfires during the summer months due to its hot, arid climate and dry landscape. A crew of workers inadvertently ignited a small fire on July 7th 2016, which quickly spread across the island, claiming nearly 780 hectares of pine forest as it moved southeast from Kamara to Mesokampos.

Creating Printed Media to Raise Awareness

Coupling our research and conservation actions, Archipelagos Institute aims to also raise awareness about the unique nature and biodiversity of the Aegean Sea and islands. In regards to this, Archipelagos’ Media Team has been hard at work creating three large posters which were installed this week in Samos International Airport. The purpose is to provide

Behaviour of Delphinus delphis and Tursiops truncatus around Samos Island

Ship traffic has been increasing in the oceans in recent decades, especially in the northern hemisphere, and very likely will increase exponentially in the future. Anthropic activities  produce diffuse and almost continuous noise that may affect very wide areas. Low-frequency (below 1,000Hz) ambient noise levels generated by ship traffic have increased in the northern hemisphere

Assessment of Fish Biodiversity in P. oceanica Seagrass Meadows in Lipsi island

Posidonia oceanica is an endemic seagrass species of the Mediterranean Sea. Research in other areas of the Mediterranean Sea has shown that P. oceanica meadows provide habitats for a diverse fish community and they have an especially important role as breeding and nursing areas. Variety of fish species, including numerous species of conservational or commercial

Population Assessment of the Mediterranean Chameleon

The Mediterranean Chameleon (Chamaeleo chamaeleon) is one of only two existent species of Chamaleonidae in Europe. It can be found in the southern part of Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece. Until a few decades ago, only a few parts of Greece supported populations of this species; namely the islands of Samos, Chios and Crete. Today

Eco-Navigation: A Citizen Science Project

Archipelagos’ Eco-navigation project focuses on creating a citizen-science platform about observations of marine mammals (dolphins, whales, seals), sea turtles, invasive species and jellyfish blooms, as well as pollution incidents (plastic debris, oil slicks, etc.) or other unusual sightings. In this way we are in the process of forming a network of sailors, divers, fishermen and

Assessing the Grazing Activity of Sea Urchins

Sea urchins are herbivorous animals that live on rocky substrate and graze on macroalgae. Pollution and overfishing of their predators, led to massive increase of the sea urchin population across the Mediterranean. As a consequence, macroalgae forests has tended to disappear, causing cascades effects on other organisms that rely on this source of food and

Comparison of Microplastics Found Within the Gastrointestinal Tract of Caretta caretta

Megan J. Kelly, University of Salford Lauren .J. Kageler, Dickinson College   The pollutions of the oceans is a rising concern of environmentalists and researchers worldwide. Plastic production and its usage in several fields, from food packaging over water bottling to clothing, increased in the last years. Being cheap in production and durable over a

Mapping Seagrass Meadows With Specially Equipped Kayaks

The GIS (Geographic Information Systems) team of Archipelagos Institute is spread out over Samos and Lipsi islands. They work in collaboration with other teams to create tools that facilitate better research, field work and communication of data. This means that GIS projects encompass smaller, more supportive tasks in addition to their own major projects. The

Monitoring Strandings of Marine Mammals and Turtles

The Archipelagos Marine Mammal Research Team has collected for over 15 years, data from stranded marine animals including sea turtles (Caretta caretta), dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba, Delphinus delphis, Tursiops truncatus), and monk seals (Monachus monachus) from various areas of Greece. The aim of this work is to determine potential hotspots in the Greek Sea and then

Development of a Methodology to Assess Anchor Damages on Posidonia Seagrass Meadows

Following the increase of coastal urbanization, 46% of the Posidonia oceanica meadows have disappeared or become threatened by a number of factors including boat anchoring. In the Aegean islands, where recreational yachting is a major touristic activity this environmental threat is an increasing problem. This can be backtracked to boat owners who are probably not

Photo-Identification of Short Beaked Common Dolphins (Delphinus delphis)

The Marine Mammal Team of Archipelagos Institute has for many years been collecting photographs of the populations of the resident Short Beaked Common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) while conducting boat surveys. This valuable photographic material is then processed to perform photo identification via mark and recapture techniques. The researchers and students of Archipelagos’ Marine Mammal Team

Research Assessing the Dietary Preferences of Golden Jackals

The Golden Jackals are opportunistic feeders, meaning that they will eat anything available, ranging from grapes and carobs to rodents and birds or even animal carcasses. The aim of this research project is to investigate the preference of seasonal and easy to find food, like carob or olives, with not so common, man-made food, like

Installation Project of Lipsi Base

On Lipsi Island, where the Aegean Marine Life Sanctuary will be located, the renewable energy team is aiming to create a research base and veterinary clinic that may fully function using renewable energy sources. With the average monthly sunshine on Lipsi reaching approximately 400 hours, and winter sunshine hours still above 100, solar panels are
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