IMIS

This dataset comprises the work carried out by OceanCare in the Provencal waters in the Mediterranean Sea between 2001 and 2010. The project is organized as a long-term monitoring project in order to survey cetacean population in these waters which belong to the Pelagos Marine Mammal Sanctuary. Cetacean spatial and temporal distribution is studied using boat-based surveys. A total of 326 sightings of identified cetacean species were recorded. Observed species and respective relative sighting frequencies were as follows: Striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba; 72.4%), sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus; 11.3%), fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus; 4.6%), bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus; 3.4%), long finned pilot whale (Globicephala melas; 3.4%), common dolphin (Delphinus delphis; 2.8%), Risso’s dolphin (Grampus griseus; 2.1%). Currently, analysis of the long-term dataset as well as respective publication is in progress. OceanCare is a Swiss non-profit and non-governmental organization founded in 1989. The organization is dedicated to the protection of marine mammals and the conservation of the marine environment. The association works at a national and international level in the areas of whaling, industrial fishing, environmental changes, seal hunting, dolphin captivity, and cetacean research. OceanCare is a partner of the UNEP/CMS Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans in the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Contiguous Atlantic Area (ACCOBAMS) and a member of the Cetacean Alliance, a not-for-profit network of nine non-governmental organizations committed to preserving marine biodiversity and reducing human impact on cetacean populations. With this cetacean monitoring project, OceanCare provides long-term data on cetacean abundance in parts of the Pelagos Marine Mammal Sanctuary in the Mediterranean Sea.