K ETOS
No. 1/ November 2018
JDC MAGAZINE
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Dear readers, You are probably wondering why we decided to go ahead with a project like the Ketos Magazine. Well, the magazine was born from a strong need to create a connection with people, that could go beyond our daily program “researcher for a day�. During our excursions, which see our crew out at sea for over 200 days a year, we try to involve you in our research activities, sharing what we know and what we see every day, and to convey our passion and our motivation for what we do. We often ask ourselves if there are ways in which we affect people's lives, and what stays with them after their experience on board is over. Generally, the feedback is very positive, and now our goal is to continue sharing our enthusiasm with you even after you leave our boats. In this magazine we will share with you facts about nature, the environment and the sea in an innovative way, trying to make science enjoyable and accessible to everyone. We will take you into the world of cetaceans and will illustrate our research activities, from the very foundation of our association to our state of the art technologies and the latest discoveries and observations. We will entertain you with many curiosities and with our latest news. Each month, a section of this magazine will be dedicated to you. We want you to become part of our community. We are stepping into this project with great enthusiasm, and our hope is to deliver something that you will very much enjoy. With love, The JDC staff
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In this issue SCIENCE
6
CITIZEN SCIENCE Scientific activities and
public participation
NATURE
12
THE VALLEY OF LIFE
CURIOSITY
15
HUNTING THE SPERM WHALE
10 THINGSTOKNOW
18 JDC NEWS
23 25 4
10 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT Cetaceans
TURIOPES Network for the enhancement of the Gulf of Taranto UNESCO AWARD An important recognition
OPEN SPACE
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READERS’ MAIL
YOUR SHOTS
Edited by: Carmelo Fanizza JDC Chairman and founder Vittorio Pollazzon Head of team and Contributor Stefano Bellomo Head of team and Contributor Aldo Rizzo Contributor Pasquale Bondanese Contributor Roberto Crugliano Contributor Francesca C. Santacesaria Editor and Contributor
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CITIZEN
Scientific activities an
6
SCIENCE
SCIENCE
nd public participation
200 days of research at sea 7500 nautical miles 10.000 people on board 4.000 younger than 15 35% of them visiting from other countries 7
It was 2009, when a group of passionate marine biologists, captained by Carmelo Fanizza, decided it was time to take action, and to take advantage of what is nowadays called Citizen Science; “a kind of science which actively involves citizens in several different programs”. Their goal was to bring about something surprising and unique for the city of Taranto and its Gulf; the creation of an important Citizen Science Center where science, research, and awareness about marine issues would come together. All of this, with the direct participation of citizens and local authorities, so that, together, they would focus the world’s attention on the conservation of the most charismatic animal ever, which also happens to be the symbol of the city of Taranto: the dolphin. Some of the most important moments in the history of the JDC are tied to the growth of its fleet, joined, in 2013, by the catamaran “Taras” (from Taras, the legendary founder of Taranto) and, in 2016, by a second catamaran, Extraordinaria”. In 2018, the JDC acquired a third vessel, “Il Porto di Taranto”.
So, now that we have mentioned the valuable research efforts and the large number of people involved in the activities that take place on board, it is time to turn our attention to our cetaceans. The sighting rate on board our boats is indeed very high. A stunning 95%. Sightings of striped dolphins scores at 59% of the total, 25% for bottlenose 8
TARAS
EXTRAORDINARIA
PORTO DI TARANTO
dolphins, 10% for Risso's dolphins, 5% for Sperm whales and 1% for common dolphins. All this data are used to study the population dynamics of the Cetaceans in the Gulf of Taranto. But there is more. The team of experts of the JDC, in collaboration with the experts of the Department of Biology of the University of Bari and the C.N.R. (National Council of Research) is involved in further research:
Photo-Identification technique which allows us to identify single individuals belonging to different cetacean species
SCIENCE (bottlenose, Risso's dolphins and sperm whales) and to follow and monitor them to collect information about migrations and behaviors;
Acoustic studies, technique that uses hydrophones (underwater mycrophones and recorders) to record the communication that takes place among marine mam-
mals;
Where all these data end up?
Ethology, the study of the beha-
All the data we are able to gather is then published in several scientific
vior, which helps us understand what kind of activities the dolphins of Gulf of Taranto entertain and display;
Dna analisys, through which we can study the genome of the animals present in the Gulf of Taranto.
On the top: photo analysis for Photo-identification On the bottom: use of hydrophone to acustic studies
All these research methodologies are realized with advanced technologies, such as 3D cameras, underwater cameras, drones and computerized systems that assist us in collecting and analyzing data in a faster and more efficient way; for example, the Artificial Intelligence system (in the pilot phase and almost ready to go) will support the PhotoID analysis.
publications, specialized reviews, scientific posters presented at conferences, in Italy as well as abroad. And not only that; every year, we give numerous multimedia presentations to students of different school levels, in Taranto and throughout the entire Puglia region. These same students, from April to June, become the protagonists of our citizen science activities. The presentations and data are elaborated by our crew members, so that our guests on board, day after day, can learn what they will experience at sea while they enjoy our program “researcher for a day with the JDC”. We dedicate our initiatives to the world of cetaceans and their conservation is our primary goal, both on a local and international level, because cetaceans are a crucial indicator of the health of our seas, and we, all of us, must protect them in order to protect our own future. This is what the expression “Citizen Science” represents. 9
It is the active participation of the public to research activities, for the safeguard and protection of the seas and their creatures. It’s a major change in the way the world looked at science and research up until a decade ago. The most revolutionary element, perhaps, is that now, thanks to the concept of Citizen Science, people are included in the projects, thus becoming more aware and more involved in marine conservation issues. Furthermore, thanks to their support, the amount of collected data is constantly increasing, and it is much higher when compared to the data we were able to collect via the traditional scientific research methods. The impact citizen science is having is paramount, in terms of results and in terms of the knowledge and the awareness we are able to share. People’s collaboration is much 10
needed, especially when we look at our planet today; the biosphere is facing a crisis it has never faced before. Helping the scientific process and bringing the public closer to a kind of science that can help us help our planet, are two strictly interconnected goals we want to achieve.
Citizen Science, thus, units two souls that are apparently in conflict: scientific activities and public participation. The JDC operates along this thin line. We strongly believe that our findings, strictly based on scientific data, will contribute to highlight the incredible beauty, and value, of the Gulf of Taranto and its cetaceans. Our wish is to be able to involve an ever increasing number of “researchers for a day” in order to continue with the mission that we began almost ten years ago.
SCIENCE Our wish is for everybody to fall in love with our beautiful sea and our beautiful land. Our wish is for the people of Taranto to rekindle their long lost connection with their territory. Above all, our hope is to open the minds and the hearts of the young people, so that they can see how much our land and our sea have to offer, and how crucial their conservation is. By helping the people recognize the value of their territory, our goal is that they will treat it with the respect and the care it deserves.
The JDC mission is a small piece of the puzzle within the larger Citizen Science movement. The Citizen Science movement was born in 1995, when the term was introduced, by sociologist Alan Irwin, in his book "Citizen Science". Irwin describes the category of experts that traditional science saw as "lay people", or profane. However, he explains, it is thank to this category, thanks to ordinary people, that it was possible to acquire knowledge and awareness concerning environmental problems. It was mainly thanks to Rick Bonney that, around the same years, the binomial “Citizen Science� came about in its most recent meaning. It is not a coincidence that Bonney himself carried out his activity within the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (CLO) in New
York, whose founder, Arthur Allen, requested the active collaboration of the public in his weekly seminars, in order to gather additional information on bird species. Citizen Science is now widely established in Northern Europe and the United States, where this outlook on science is now seeing the involvement of a large number of people in local and national projects, and it has been accepted as a standardized methodological approach. We are doing our part and we are eager to keep contributing in raising awareness on these important issues. 2019 will mark our 10 years of research and activities out at sea, and our hope is to add a new milestone to our path: the inauguration of KETOS, the EuroMediterranean Sea and Cetacean Center at Palazzo Amati, the oldest building in the historic part of Taranto. Stefano Bellomo 11
THE VALLE It's now been nine years since the Jonian Dolphin Conservation, with its research and activities dedicated to raising awareness about marine conservation issues began giving a new identity to the city of Taranto and a new "life" to the its Gulf. All of this has been possible thanks to the beautiful marine mammals that here, in the Taranto Gulf, have found the perfect conditions for a healthy and safe life.
Why did dolphins choose this specific area? Dear friends, the answer is quite surprising!!
3D reproduction of the Gulf of Taranto
The complex morphology of the seabed which, although apparently uniform, has revealed important differences in its conformation, and this is the main reason for the biological richness of the Gulf of Taranto.
The central part of the Gulf of Taranto presents a depression, called "Valle di Taranto" (Taranto Valley), which forms a submarine canyon. This canyon, which follows a NW-SE course along the Gulf, and reaches a depth of over 2.200 meters, follows the fracture lines of the seabed all the way to the Gulf of Corinth, in Greece, where a Marine Protected Area has been created to preserve dolphins.
What is the connection between geology and the submarine canyon where cetaceans such as the sperm whales, the biggest predator on the Planet, and several species of dolphins like the striped, bottlenose and Risso's dolphins live? The presence of this underwater canyon allows the recirculation of nutrients and oxygen along the entire water column, enriching, in fact, the deeper areas of the basin with oxygen, and the more superficial ones with nutrients. This happens thanks to the formation of upwelling currents, created by differences in temperature and salinity throughout different sea depths. These conditions generate a trophic web, and dolphins are found at the top of this web.
What is a trophic web? 12
EY OF LIFE
In ecology, a trophic net is the system thanks to which energy flows through the different trophic levels. In the sea, we find organisms called primary producers, the ones that can transform the energy of the sun into carbohydrates. They are organisms like phytoplankton, consisting of microalgae, benthonic macroalgae (such as kelp) and seagrass, such as the Posidonia oceanica. All these organ- isms are called "autotrophic", because they can synthesize their organic molecules starting from inorganic substances. In fact, these organisms use
NATURE
energy that does not come from assimilated organic substances. On the second level of the trophic net we find the herbivorous sea organisms, primary consumers, who feed on the producers. Defined, in ecology, as "heterotrophic" organisms, they are not able to synthesize nutrients on their own, so they get them (carbohydrates, proteins and fats) from the plant tissues they eat. This way, the energy is transferred from the producers to the higher trophic level, until we reach to the top of the trophic web, where those animals that in in 13
Bottlenose dolphin that preys a dolphinfish
certain habitat have no predators live; the cetaceans of the Gulf of Taranto! The ecological importance of underwater canyons is, therefore, highlighted by the high biodiversity levels that live in the areas they create. These habitats host a large number of species, and it is important to preserve them in order to protect cetaceans and the other forms of marine life. Different dolphin’s species, such as striped dolphin, bottlenose dolphins and Risso's dolphins take advantage of these areas to feed and reproduce. This particular canyon is located just a few miles off the coast, and this is the main reason why all these species chose this area as their permanent habitat; here they can enjoy all the conditions they usually find in the open sea. Not only that; the very same canyon 14
hosts the sperm whale, which crosses its corridors during its migratory routes, from the Sicily Channel towards the eastern Ionian Sea.
It is not a coincidence, then, that the history of the city of Taranto has always been tied to the presence of dolphins. Both Taras and Falanto, the mythological founders of our city, had an encounter with a dolphin, a sign of good luck and favor by the gods. All these stories confirm the presence of dolphins in the Gulf of Taranto for over four thousand years, thus encouraging us to protect our sea, their ideal habitat. Roberto Crugliano
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CURIOSITY
UNTING THE SPERM WHALE
Whaling has very ancient origins, dating back to around 6000 b.C. This widespread practice was tied to the abundance of large cetaceans in all oceans and seas, and to the fact that they represented an important source of livelihood for coastal populations all over the world. The main product the whalers sought was the animal’s blubber, or fat, which was converted into oil, used to illuminate homes and businesses and to produce perfumes. Not a single part of the animal was wasted; in fact, the entire body was utilized. From the meat, turned into typical dishes from different cultures, to the baleen, for the creation of corsets, combs, walking canes, silverware, and other items. Although whales were hunted in different places, this practice experienced its greatest development in the
by 1835 whaling was predominantly considered an American activity. Until 1712, the year Captain Christopher Hussey came back victorious from his fight with a sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus), whalers saw it as way too dangerous to approach a cetacean of such size and aggressiveness. When Hussey returned to Nantucket carrying the immense carcass of a sperm whale, it became clear that the oil from the sperm whale was enormously more valuable than what they had been getting out of the northern right whale (Eubalaena glacialis), the main species the whalers had been chasing until then. The production of sperm whale oil reached its peak at the beginning of the War of Independence between the British colonies and the British
At the end of the XVII century, North America became the stage for the birth of the so-called proper whaling industry, to the point that, in 1690, Nantucket emerged as the main hunting port for the whole of New England, and
Sperm whale oil
British colonies of the New World, in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
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They say the sea is cold, but the sea contains the hottest blood of all, and the wildest, the most urgent. All the whales in the wider deeps, hot are they‌ “Whales Weep Not!" D.H. Lawrence
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CURIOSITÀ CURIOSITY Empire, reaching nearly 50,000 barrels a year. The War of Independence almost completely destroyed the American whaling industry, as the British Navy had pledged to capture and sink all American whaling ships. After 1815, the peace between the Americans and the English saw a very rapid reorganization of the American whaling fleet, which, in 1851, reached 450 units. Already in 1820, the port of Nantucket was the most important whaling port in the world. In 1850, Nantucket lost its supremacy to the benefit of nearby New Bedford, where the entire population lived on hunting proceeds. Whaling towns’ streets began to be populated by different ethnic groups; Africans, Azorean and South Seaserians and several more. Now, the most respectable citizens were no longer surprised to see savage men with tattooed faces going about in the streets, and this was a result of the wealth brought by the sperm whale hunt. Embarking on a whaling feat meant sailing out to sea for an average of forty-two months at a time. It was a trade that involved the coexistence with individuals of the most diverse cultures, at times unaccustomed to the most basic good manners, as well as spending entire days with mood swings from boredom to terror, from loneliness to exhilaration. In order to make the best of their time, sailors used to sing and tell stories,
both real and legendary, about sperm whales. The most famous legends spoke of encounters with the most dangerous sperm whales such as Tom the Black, a whale in the waters of New Zealand, or Timor Jack, often found in the Timor Sea. The most popular was Mocha Dick, who took his name from his first sighting off the coast of Mocha Island, Chile, in 1810. Mocha Dick was a light gray-colored sperm whale with an enormous head crossed by a large white scar. It was killed by a Swedish whaler in 1859. Legends about sperm whales were constantly growing, but one true story, more than the rest, had particular resonance in the popular culture at the time. It was the story of the Essex Whaler; in 1820, at about 1200 miles from the Marquesas Islands, the vessel sank after being repeatedly rammed by a white sperm whale more than 30 meters long. And so, Melville’s Moby Dick was born. Aldo Rizzo
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1.
THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT..
Cetaceans
NOT FISH BUT...
Cetaceans aren’t fish, but mammals
Mother with baby of Risso’s Dolphin
adapted to aquatic life. Mammals are those animals that nurse their young with milk, secreted from the mammary glands: yes, also the cetaceans breastfeed their puppies! Moreover, as the other mammals, they have lungs (fish use gills) and they need to breath air out of the water. Body temperature is almost constant and it doesn’t depend on the external environment. Usually mammals use fur to control the temperature while cetaceans, for hydrodinamic reason, have lost the fur and have developed a subcutaneous layer of fat, the blubber. This acts as thermal insulation and varies in thickness according to the water temperature.
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2.
IS THERE ANYBODY?
The Odontoceti, toothed whales, are a parvorder of cetaceans that have the teeth and that are predators and carnivorous. These animals feed at huge depths, where there isn’t light. Therefore, they developed a really smart system. They listen the prey. The toothed whales don’t use their eyes but the hearing sense thanks to a “sixth sense” callled echolocation. In the head of these cetaceans there are a kind of membranes, callded “monkey lips”, that hurting make the characteristic sounds of dolphins: the click. These sounds are amplified by the melon, a mass of adipose tissue, and spread through the water. When the sounds bounce off of the prey, they return like an echo that the dolphins listen and intrepet. In this way the cetaceans know exactly shape, speed, distance, size, direction of travel of the prey. However, don’t believe that the eyesight of dolphins isn’t good: they can perfectly see underwater and above water.
PREDATORS OR PREY?
The ancient greeks knew the answer to this question: imagine that the word “cecatean” derive from the greek word ketos “Sea monster”. Several marine predators belong to this order, in particular toothed whales like the legendary Sperm Whale. The Sperm whale, experienced diver ( it can stay underwatrer more than 2 hour), with its 20 m in lenght and its ability to reach dephts of over 2000m, awards the title of “biggest predator in the world” . The preys of the Sperm whale aren’t easy to carch: it is greedy of another “sea monster”, the giant squid, with whom fiercely fight into the abyss.
4.
A BRUSH IN MOUTH
Despite what we used to believe, whales aren’t predators. They are filterfeeding species. Indeed, whales are classified as Mysticeti, cetaceans which have baleen instead of teeth inside the mouth. Baleen is a structure made by keratin, the same substance found in human fingernails and hair! The Baleen, arranged in parallel rows, seems a toothbrush and can be 0.5 to 3.5 m (1.6 to 11.5 ft) long. These structure works like a filter: in this way the whale can collect in its mouth all the little animals, such as krill, that are present in the water.
Sperm whale before the diving
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10 THINGSTOKNOW
5.
HOW DO THE CETACEAN SLEEP?
It's nothing like we think. A lot of people believe that cetaceans sleep on the bottom of the sea, during the night for several hours but nothing could be further from the truth. First of all, cetaceans breath air and for this reason they need to sleep on the surface of the water. Furthermore, their respiration is voluntary, so they must always think to breath and they can’t “turn off” the brain as we do when we sleep. They have developed the ability to turn off one brain hemisphere at a time, this means that they sleep with only one side of their body at a time. With the other part of the body they can swim, breathe consciously and avoid predators during their period of rest. Cetaceans sleep during the day for few minutes and always in couple: the partner protect the other one turning off the opposite side of the brain. 19
6.
7.
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WHAT LANGUAGE ARE YOU SPEAKING?
Cetaceans make a huge variety of sounds related to feeding, such as clicks, but also related to communication, such as the whistles and the burst pulses (sound of trouble). According to different studies about the acustic of this animals, we can say that each species uses different acustic signals and characteristic vocalization pattern. Well, different species of cetaceans speak different languages!!! Moreover scientist observed that there are also differences beetween the various population of the same species. For example, the striped dolphin that live in the Gulf of Taranto in Italy speaks the same languages but with a different “dialect” compared to the striped dolphin that live in the Gulf of Corinth in Greece.
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SOCIAL ANIMALS
Many cetaceans, especially toothed whales, are organized into family groups, called pods. The size of the groups varies greatly depending on the species, behavior and period. For example, the striped dolphin could be found in groups of over 250 individuals during socializing as well as in groups of only 10 during feeding. These species are characterized by different complex social behaviors, ranging from collaboration during the feeding to play game togheter. The strength of the link between these animals is surprising. For example the groups of females of sperm whales that are arranged in “daisy” with the tail outside and the head inside to defend the puppy from the attacks of killer whales. Or like "the aunts", female dolphins, which help dolphin mum during delivery and push the newborn puppy above water to make it breathe. Like the mother who teaches the puppy to swim creating a trail with the pectoral fin.
10 THINGSTOKNOW
8.
THE GIANT OF OUR WORLD
Giant but graceful, the blue whale can reach 33 meters in length and 150 tons in weight. It is the biggest animal on the planet. The African elephant with its 4 meters of height and a maximum weight of 5 tons seems really small in comparison. Many studies have tried to clarify the reasons why, compared to terrestrial animals, these marine mammals can reach such a large size. One of the hypotheses is linked to the absence of the limits imposed by gravity: in fact, marine animals can float and move without feeling the weight of their body. Instead, a recent study attributes the
Pakicetus, the oldest whale known
cause of the considerable size of these animals to the need to keep warm even in waters where temperatures are rather low.
9.
A DISTANT COUSIN
The similarities between the two cousins are very few but the DNA does not lie: the cetaceans are related to the hippos! Thanks to the discovery of the skeleton of Pakicetus, the oldest whale known, and to the molecular analysis emerged the link between cetaceans and artiodactyls, ungolates animals whose weight is borne equally by the third and fourth toes, such as giraffe, cow and hippopotamus. The hypothesis is that 40 million years ago there was a common ancestor and that this animal evolved into two distinct groups: the first group, the cetaceans, completely adapted to the aquatic life and the second group with 4 legs and similar to pig.
10.
HOW LONG THEY LIVE?
The life span of cetaceans varies from species to species. Most species live around 40 years. An excellent exception is the fin whale and the bowhead whale which can exceed 100 years of life. Unfortunately, the human impact in recent years is significantly lowering the life expectancy of these animals: for example, the Tursiope, which lives on average 50 years, in captivity, due to stress, reaches a maximum of 10. Francesca C. Santacesaria 21
“There's an exact moment for leaping into the lives of wild animals. You have to feel their lives first, how they fit the world around them. It's like the beat of music. Their eyes, the sounds they make, their head, movements, their feet and their whole body, the closeness of things around them - all this and more make up the way they perceive and adjust to their world.” RICHARD O’BARRY
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JDC NEWS
TURSIOPES Network for the enhancement of the Gulf of Taranto The "Tursiopes" project, consisting of a network of schools from three different regions, has just started. The leading school is Liceo Ferraris, winner of an open call for tender set up by MIUR and related to the "National School Day". Jonian Dolphin Conservation will take active part in the project throughout all its stages. Along with Liceo Ferraris, the other schools involved in the Tursiopes network (Tursiopes is an acronym deriving from the Italian “Taranto combines ionic schools operating for education to sustainability”) are "E. Fermi "from Policoro and “Liceo Bruno” from Corigliano Calabro.
“IONIAN SUSTAINABLE”
«Thanks to this exemplary project, the Gulf of Taranto becomes the sea that unites the coasts that overlook it» Carmelo Fanizza - JDC founder collect data relating to the presence of Cetaceans in the area of Ionian Sea situated in front of their region. The data collection shall be carried out thanks to the logistic and technical support of Jonian Dolphin Conservation experts.On October 16th and on October 25th the JDC boats took a large delegation of students from Liceo Ferraris to Policoro and Corigliano Calabro. Thus, the students belonging to the three high schools involved in the
a project to support the creation of a marine protected area The "Ionian sustainable" project is the first of many that the network intends to implement and aims at supporting the request to establish a marine protected area in the Gulf of Taranto. In order to achieve this goal, the students of each school in the network will 23
network all met together with the aim of promoting and sharing the principles of the project. The conference held on October 30th in Taranto in the premises of the University course in Environmental Sciences has represented the starting point for the activities of the network and has gathered students from Liceo Ferraris as well as experts in the sector.
ROAD TO BLUE OASIS Learn to protect and to enhance the resources of the territory 24
The main objective of the conference was the protection of the Gulf of Taranto, historic bay and ecosystem of extreme interest, potential "sanctuary� of the cetaceans which inhabit it or swim through it. Other important topics treated in the conference were the creation of the Blue Oasis "Ketos" and the principle of Protection, to be understood not in a strictly protectionist sense, but as a willingness to guarantee a sustainable impact of human activities in our Gulf, as well as to promote an effective but respectful exploitation in tourism and employment in general. Vittorio Pollazzon
JDC NEWS
UNESCO AWARD An important recognition
The award ceremony of the IX edition of the FICLU International Competition "La Fabbrica nel Paesaggio" was held on Saturday 13th October 2018, at 4.00p.m., in the splendid setting of Palazzo Trinci in Foligno.
"FOR THE NOVELTY OF THE THEME THAT OPENS UP FUTURE PROSPECTIVES, ALSO EDUCATIONAL, ON THE PROTECTION OF THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT"
The competition was under the aegis of the European Federation of Clubs, Centers and Associations for UNESCO and under the patronage of the Italian National Commission for UNESCO, 'ICCROM, MIBAC, European Landscape Observatory - Venice Office of the Council of Europe, ICOMOS Italy, Municipality of Foligno, Umbria Region and the Cassa di Risparmio di Foligno Foundation.
Citizen Science wins for UNESCO Our primary goal, the protection of the cetaceans that live and pass through the Gulf of Taranto, can only be achieved by creating and raising awareness
"JONIAN DOLPHIN CONSERVATION", nominated by the UNESCO club of Taranto for the 2018 edition in the "Private Subjects" section, won the recognition among the 27 excellent candidates with the following motivation:
Instead of Carmelo Fanizza, President of the winning association, the award was withdrawn by the President of the UNESCO Club of Taranto Carmen Galluzzo Motolese, to whom we owe our thanks for having strongly desired the candidature of the Jonian Dolphin Conservation. Vittorio Pollazzon
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Reader’s Mail Dolphin captivity is an issue that has always been very close to my heart. I consider the kind of suffering we cause to these animals utterly unjustifiable, from their brutal captures during which many of them lose their lives, to their permanent confinement in pools that, for such large mammals, are roughly the same size (for them) as our bathtubs are for us. A couple of summers ago, a random online search took me to the website of a certain Jonian Dolphin Conservation. The page promptly caught my attention, as it was immediately clear that the purpose of this group was to carry out research on marine mammals, strictly aimed at studying and protecting the cetaceans of the Gulf of Taranto. Their boats didn’t go out to sea to take tourists on a dolphin watching daytrip, nor to promote dolphinariums or various businesses offering the chance to swim with dolphins, but rather to collect enough data so that the Gulf of Taranto could one day be declared a protected area for resident cetaceans. The enthusiasm that Carmelo Fanizza, President of the JDC, was able to convey in a phone conversation that lasted only a couple of minutes, was enough to convince me that JDC was, in fact, the gem I was looking for. And that it would never just be a "one-off" boat trip for me. To the amazement of many, I spent ten days going out on every single excursion at sea, and returned the following month. And the next. And then this year. Twice. 26
Can you guess if I am planning to go back? Now, JDC for me means “free dolphins”. Free to choose whether to approach the boats, whether to stay clear, or to leave you speechless while delighting you with some of their breathtaking jumps. Free to live, in the open sea, the kind of life that nature has intented for them, instead of languishing in tiny pools of chlorinated water that so many misleading ads promote as "The homes of happy dolphins". These, in reality, mean nothing more than a lifelong prison sentence, where the dolphins eat only if they obey the trainers’ commands, and where their life won’t last longer than a few years. But they will be replaced by other prisoners, who will entertain the unaware tourists with an identical "forced smile". Marine biologists and JDC volunteers share their love for these creatures to the point of devoting every single day to raising awareness among children and adults who board their catamarans. They want them to realize how important it is to respect these magnificent animals. "The sea is their home, and it is essential to take care of it, and to protect its creatures". This is the message, loud and clear, that every single member of the amazing JDC crew is sending out day after day after day, and my heart goes out to them, full of deep appreciation and great admiration!
Elena Montrasio
OPEN SPACE
YOUR SHOTS Enjoy nature. Exploring with respect so that we can understand. Observe the world with different eyes. Be in close contact with dolphins, symbol of freedom. This is what our reader– you– lived on board of our catamaran and told to us with these photos.
Share your photo and experience with us by email at lia@joniandolphin.it It is wonderful to be able to see animals not in captivity, to see them in their natural habitat, to observe and learn their behavior. This is how every child should be educated, to love animals in freedom and to look at them in this way. Ph: Giorgia Palombella
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Ph: Giorgia Masiello
Ph: Sarah Donvito
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Ph: Lucia Vinella
Ph: Maurizio Ingrosso
OPEN SPACE
“It was an amazing, really interesting and formative experience. We are really glad to meet you as biologist and as young people rich of knowledge. Thank you.� Ph: Gianluca Calabrese
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Team work make dream work The soul of the Jonian Dolphin Conservation is the team that make it real, a group of people passionate and in love with the sea, driven by a common objective: protect the ceaceans of the Gulf of Taranto by creating knowledge and awarerness in the people that share with us the experience as“researcher for a day” and the other one. To reach this aim, the team of biologist is not alone. In concert with them work the skippers and the team of technical experts. Thanks to them, every day we can go out on the open sea guaranteeing the safty of the boat and of the people that are on bord with us. They give a significant support to the research and to the turism. 30
Not without reason, They are immensely appreciated by turist for all the thing that they do on bord: from the food, to entertainment and to the dissemination of the knowledge about the sea. To day we would like to say thanks to them. It’s only for them if we have the chance to create this magazine and the opportunity to do research in the best way and with the best people. Thanks to Alessandro, Ezio , Fabio, Gianluca, Mimmo.
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