Location: The high seas of the Italian Mediterranean


Availability: June to October.

Duration: Minimum 6 days commitment.

Cost: From 680 - 850 Euros per 6 day trip. Discounts available for students under 26. Fees include meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner), beverages (water and wine), petrol and port costs, insurance for the duration of the course.

Travel: You will need to make your own way to the project site. You can fly into Rome International airport and take a bus and ferry to the island, where you will be met by project staff. Easy to follow instructions will be provided.

Work: Working alongside Marine Biologists in ongoing academic research, monitoring and evaluating wild Dolphin behaviour.

Introduction

Get involved in ongoing academic research into Dolphins in the Italian Mediteranean with a local NGO. You will live on board a cutter ship of 17.70 m built in 1930 with oak tree and Oregon's pine tree, and equipped with underwater microphones and videocameras. It is a historical boat, built in 1930 and designed by a famous french architect.

Short beaked common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) are rapidly declining ithroughout the Mediterranean Sea. The presence of common dolphin population off the island of Ischia, Italy, has been consistently documented since 1997.

The short-beaked common dolphin Delphinus delphis is a small cetacean species with a wide distribution. Like most other cetaceans, however, it is not panmictic and occurs as a series of geographically separate populations. In the Mediterranean Sea it is found both in the pelagic and in the neritic environment, often sharing the former with striped dolphins and the latter with common bottlenose dolphins. Neritic communities seem to show relatively high levels of site fidelity, while little is known about the movements and range patterns of offshore animals. Literature, photographic documentation, and osteological collections indicate that the common dolphin used to be common - thence its name - throughout the Mediterranean Sea, however the species has experienced a dramatic decline in numbers during the last few decades, and has almost completely disappeared from large portions of its former range including the northern Adriatic Sea and the Ligurian Sea.

In 2003 the Mediterranean common dolphin 'subpopulation' was listed as endangered in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals, based on criterion A2, which refers to a 50% decline in abundance over the last three generations, the causes of which 'may not have ceased or may not be understood or may not be reversible' (redlist.org ).

Short-beaked common dolphins in the Mediterranean have undergone a remarkable drop in abundance and have almost completely disappeared from large portions of their former range. A number of interacting factors may have played a role in the decline of common dolphins in the Mediterranean, ranging from natural fluctuations to the impact of human activities. Some of the human-induced threats - based on the available evidence - are most likely to be implicated in the species' decline. These include factors as diverse as prey depletion, contamination by xenobiotics, direct killing, fishery bycatch and global climate change. Other potential threats to Mediterranean common dolphins include disturbance by recreational vessel traffic, noise from shipping, mineral prospecting (seismic) and military sonar, and oil pollution.

The research is conducted in collaboration with: ASMS Ocean Care (Swiss coalition for marine mammals), Humane Society, OceanoMare, RSPCA (Royal Society for the prevention of Cruelty to Animals) Tethys Research Institute, University of Naples (Geology Department), Zoological Station A. Dohrn. Publications from research are available following the link publications.

Daily Life

On board there will be lectures on cetology: the research on cetaceans in the Italian seas, the key areas for the study of whales and dolphins in the Mediterranean, conservation and preservation, evolution, adaptation to the marine environment, classification, insight into the cetaceans of the Mediterranean and in particular of the studied species, bioacoustics, social behaviour and interaction with fisheries.

You will leave every day to sail, according to the project and weather conditions. Your duties onboard consist in helping researchers monitoring dolphins. Dolphin behaviour is recorded together with geographic position, group size, group composition, group formation, surface activity patterns and duration of surfacing intervals. Behavioural sampling is coupled with acoustic recording of dolphin vocalisations, in order to relate the sounds produced by the animals to different behavioural activities. Navigation data are collected in order to estimate dolphins relative sighting frequencies. The presence of sea turtles, tuna, swordfish, fish schools, mantas, moonfish and marine birds, is recorded.

Seamanship: interested volunteers can learn the main riggings to sail as steering, hoisting and striking the sails, take confidence with sheets, halyard, compass and courses... furthermore you can collaborate with the crew during the mooring

Accommodation


You will live on board the cutter ship. You will be in a shared cabin with basic bathroom and kitchen facilities.

Requirements

This placement is particularly suited to those looking to gain a career in marine biology or environmental conservation. You do not need any specific skills, although any you do have will be very beneficial.

* Min age 18
* Minimum 6 days commitment
* Reasonable physical fitness
* Full travel & medical insurance
* Necessary vaccinations
* Necessary flights & visas 

NO commission is added to the cost of this project by Global Nomadic. We ask instead for a flat placement fee of £195 per project (paid securely via Paypal). We offer full pre-departure support, ongoing email assistance and a full range of discounts with our selected partners.

Send us an email enquiry to find out more, or click the 'Join this Project' button below if you are ready to get involved.