Why study dolphins ?

The study and conservation of the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) in the Northern Adriatic Sea is important for several reasons. This wonderful creature has already almost disappeared along the polluted Italian shore of the Adriatic, where it was rather abundant in the recent past. A complete disappearance from this sea of bottlenose dolphins - which would be very similar to the decline of the common dolphin (Delphinus delphis), the only other cetacean species once present in these waters - would represent a dramatic decrease of the biological diversity of this region, which has already faced a serious degradation process during the past decades.

Protecting dolphins and monitoring trends in their population is a way of protecting all marine organisms living in their ecosystem, and the ecosystem itself. Dolphins are excellent biological indicators of the status of the environment they live in. They are predators at the top of the marine food chain, and their long lifespan (40 years or more) make them important bioaccumulators of man-made polluting substances such as organochlorine compounds and heavy metals, the toxic potential of which is well known. The decrease of a dolphin population represents a signal that something is wrong in the marine environment, and is likely to result from overexploitation or obtuse managing of natural resources.

The present state of ignorance of the biology of Northern Adriatic bottlenose dolphins prevents the undertaking of timely and appropriate conservation strategies, to counteract negative human effects such as indiscriminate overfishing and uncontrolled pollution. An assessment of the status of the dolphin populations is thus urgently needed to determine trends and understand how to avoid the causes of decline.

Nevertheless, such research activities would produce little benefit if not followed by adequate information and awareness campaigns, to expose the public and the governmental authorities to the results of the scientific studies and to propose adequate conservation measures, including the establishment of specifically protected areas and the development of a sustainable management.

All these considerations provided the impetus for the launching of the Adriatic Dolphin Project.

Cetaceans . . . Goals