ECO-VOLUNTEERING
UNDERSTAND TO BETTER PROTECT
The only expedition with the presence of SCS guides
Between Corsica and the Côte d'Azur, from late June to early September, several species of whales and dolphins are concentrated in order to feed at a time when the biomass of these waters reaches its maximum. Among them, a thousand great whales and tens of thousands of dolphins!
However, despite the abundance of cetaceans, scientific research mounts on the difficulties of observations at sea. The current state of our knowledge is still very approximate, hence the difficulty of effectively protecting Mediterranean cetaceans.
It is through the active participation and financial support of its ecovolunteers that the SCS can provide logistical support for scientific research.
Since 2000, Dr. José Maria Brotons Martinez (DGMRM, then, Tursiops Association) studies the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) of the Balearic Islands, with the aim of reducing the possible nuisance it causes to local fishermen, as well as the sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus ).
These programs, under the title of Balearic Sperm Whale Project – BSWP, include bio-acoustic studies, photo-identification of individuals and an ethological study of the population.
The objective of the collaboration of the SCS with the Tursiops Association essentially consists in obtaining a better overall vision of the presence of cetaceans in the Balearic Islands, of the Sperm Whale in particular, in order to establish a conservation strategy.
This proposed scientific expedition (ecovolunteer week) is managed entirely by our partner, the Tethys Research Institute, as part of its Ionian Dolphin programme.
It differs in several ways from our other expeditions:
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No SCS guide on site
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Return to land each evening
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Overnight stays in a flat
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Language spoken: English
The SCS promotes these ecovolunteer weeks as a way to support the Ionian Dolphin Project and its scientific work on Mediterranean Monk Seals, Bottlenose Dolphins and Common Dolphins.
