During the fieldwork, the volunteers had the opportunity to apply in practice the knowledge and skills they gained in the trainings as part of the project “Civil support for studying the Black Sea cetaceans along the Bulgarian coast” which aimed to determine species of cetaceans in their natural habitat and apply various methods to study them. The participants had the opportunity to see up close a large group of over 30 bottlenose dolphins feeding around a fishing ship with their younglings.
An internationally validated method for reporting distances along linear transects was applied to study the distribution, density, and abundance of different species. Transects with a total length of over 60 kilometers were studied.
During the fieldwork, the participants registered a total of 57 sightings of cetaceans of three species. Most frequently sighted were harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) with 26 sightings, followed by the bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) with 17, and the short-beaked common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) – 14. In the bays south of Sozopol and around Maslen nos cape, a group of possibly resident bottlenose dolphins with their younglings was registered, and they were exhibiting social behavior by circling the yacht.
The registered sightings strengthen the impressions that the area of “Ropotamo” protected site provides a habitat for these protected species, and it definitely is an important place for conservation of the cetaceans in our waters.
An interesting sighting of a flock of around 70-80 pink pelicans was registered in the sea south of Maslen nos.
Collecting data on the distribution and population numbers of cetaceans is of immense importance for the conservation of the clade. In order to collect this information, it’s necessary to train experts and volunteers to provide data for the National Biodiversity Monitoring System, which is the aim of this project.
The project “Civil support for studying the Black Sea cetaceans along the Bulgarian coast” is financed as part of the framework of Programme BG03 in Bulgaria from the EEA Grants 2009-2014.
This document was created with the financial help of Programme BG03 from EEA Grants. Responsibility for the content of the article is taken by the Green Balkans organization and it must not be assumed that this document represents the official standing of EEA Grants or the Ministry of Environment and Water of Bulgaria.
Studying cetaceans from a vessel in “Ropotamo” protected site
