Current State of Knowledge and Conservation Perspectives on the Cetaceans of the Aegean Sea
The underwater habitat complexity of the Aegean Sea renders it home to a diversity of cetacean species. From shallow-diving piscivores to teuthophagous deep divers, this sea hosts seven regular cetacean species (Delphinidae, Phocoenidae, Physeteridae, and
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Contents 1 Historical Context of Cetology in the Aegean Sea 2 What Makes This Sea Suitable for Cetaceans? 3 Regular Species and Rare Occurrences 4 Threats, Conservation, and Important Areas 5 Recommendations for Future Research 6 Conclusions Annex References
Abstract The underwater habitat complexity of the Aegean Sea renders it home to a diversity of cetacean species. From shallow-diving piscivores to teuthophagous deep divers, this sea hosts seven regular cetacean species (Delphinidae, Phocoenidae, Physeteridae, and Ziphiidae), while five more species have been reported as visitors. Despite this high biodiversity, little is known about this taxon, with most available information referring only to presence data. Due to an ever-increasing human development in the area, seven threats can be identified so far: interactions with
I. Foskolos (*) Pelagos Cetacean Research Institute, Vouliagmeni, Greece Zoophysiology Section, Department of Biology, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark e-mail: [email protected] K. C. Gkikopoulou Pelagos Cetacean Research Institute, Vouliagmeni, Greece Sea Mammal Research Unit, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK e-mail: [email protected] A. Frantzis Pelagos Cetacean Research Institute, Vouliagmeni, Greece e-mail: [email protected] Christos L. Anagnostou, Andrey G. Kostianoy, Ilias D. Mariolakos, Panayotis Panayotidis, Marina Soilemezidou, and Grigoris Tsaltas (eds.), The Aegean Sea Environment: The Natural System, Hdb Env Chem, DOI 10.1007/698_2020_653, © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
I. Foskolos et al.
fisheries and plastic debris, noise and chemical pollution, shipping, climate change, and epizootics. The concurrent absence of abundance data for these apex predators and the lack of protection areas and law enforcement undermine the survival of the cetaceans in the Aegean Sea. Based on these deficiencies and the scarce governmental funding, we propose that research effort should focus on three main topics: abundance, fine-scale distribution, and ecology. Only with this information available, the monitoring of anthropogenic threats will allow the assessment of the effectiveness of potential conservation measures. Keywords Aegean Sea, Cetacean, Conservation, Dolphin, Greece, Mediterranean, Porpoise, Turkey, Whale
1 Historical Context of Cetology in the Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea is the birthplace of the Minoan, Cycladic, and Mycenaean civilizations, which laid the foundations for the entire classical Greek culture. Apart from its historical significance, this sea was also the location where Aristotle, the father of zoology, first founded cetology, the scientific study of cetaceans. Already in 350 BC, Aristotle mentioned in his seminal work Historia Animalium sperm whales Physeter macrocephalus (Linnaeus, 1758), harbor porpoises Phocoena phocoena (Linnaeus, 1758), and dolphins. He also described the main morphological differences between toothed and baleen whales as well as a primordial version of the widely used photoidentification method [1, 2]. Despite this early interest toward c
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