The Annual Conference of the European Cetaceans Society (ECS) for 2015 was held in Malta from 21 to 25 March. The program included two days of workshops and three full days of plenary sessions and poster sessions presenting wide range of topics. Keynote speakers were: Prof. Phil Hammond, Porf. Gianni Pavan, Dr. Barbara Taylor and Dr. Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara. The Conference was opened by the Hon. Minister Joseph Mizzi responsible of the Ministry for Transport and Infrastructure while the EU Commissioner for the Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries - Hon. Karmenu Vella has sent a special video with a message to the organizers and participants of the Conference.
Thanks to invitation and support by the ACCOBAMS Secretariat an expert from Green Balkans NGO participated in the Conference and two of the workshops. The first workshop organized by ACCOBAMS Secretariat was titled “Strengthening the cooperation for a better cetacean conservation in the ACCOBAMS area: working together with common tools”. The focus of the workshop was presenting two web-based platforms aiming to improve exchange of information within ACCOBAMS area. First platform is the newly created NETCCOBAMS – Network for the conservation of cetacean of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and contiguous Atlantic area. Its aim is to facilitate and reinforce exchange and collaboration between different actors in cetacean conservation (scientific community, state and local authorities, NGOs, managers, students, etc.). In the special “Members Area” members of the platform will be able to log in and upload information on projects, documents, advertisements and to launch specific discussions. The platform is developed with joint efforts of ACCOBAMS Secretariat, WWF France and GIS3M. The participants in the workshop welcomed the initiative and made some proposals for optimizing the platform like developing Terms of Reference for members to fulfill before these being approved. Second platform that was used and training on its use was provided is INTERCET: web-GIS platform created for storage and integrated analysis of geo-referenced photographic data. It is developed by Aquario di Genova within cross-border project GIONHA between Italy and France. The training was led by Guido Gnone and Michela Bellingeri. The use of the INTERCET is recommended by the Conservation Plan for Bottlenose dolphin in the Mediterranean Sea. Additional short presentations informed the participants on current activities in the ACCOBAMS area.
Second workshop “Developing analytical protocols to assess trends in cetacean populations from structured surveillance data collected on ferries” was organized by European Cetacean Monitoring Coalition. The activities and deployed methods for collecting data on board of regular ferry lines and cruise ships have been presented covering North Sea, Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Two work groups have discussed how to improve quality of collected data and their use as complementary source of data in national cetacean monitoring schemes in European countries.
The 29th Conference of the European Cetaceans Society gathered more than 300 experts from all over the world. In total 200 contributions have been presented with posters and speeches divided in several categories: UNDERWATER NOISE, A THREAT TO MARINE LIFE; ECOLOGY & ECO-TOXICOLOGY; ACOUSTICS AND STRANDINGS; SURVIVAL NEEDS AND PATHOLOGY; CONSERVATION GENETICS; FORAGING & FISHERIES; CONSERVATION, MIGRATIONS & MARINE PROTECTED AREAS; MONITORING MARINE MAMMALS; MONITORING CETACEANS & HUMAN IMPACTS. The program was complemented with a Video night; Annual General Meeting of ECS and special awards. This year the Cetacean Conservation Award was handed to Dr. Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara – President of Tethys Research Institute (Italy).
We owe special thanks and praise for the wonderful organization to the ECS Organizing Committee and the hosts from Biological Conservation Research Foundation (BICREF) from Malta.
Thanks to invitation and support by the ACCOBAMS Secretariat an expert from Green Balkans NGO participated in the Conference and two of the workshops. The first workshop organized by ACCOBAMS Secretariat was titled “Strengthening the cooperation for a better cetacean conservation in the ACCOBAMS area: working together with common tools”. The focus of the workshop was presenting two web-based platforms aiming to improve exchange of information within ACCOBAMS area. First platform is the newly created NETCCOBAMS – Network for the conservation of cetacean of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and contiguous Atlantic area. Its aim is to facilitate and reinforce exchange and collaboration between different actors in cetacean conservation (scientific community, state and local authorities, NGOs, managers, students, etc.). In the special “Members Area” members of the platform will be able to log in and upload information on projects, documents, advertisements and to launch specific discussions. The platform is developed with joint efforts of ACCOBAMS Secretariat, WWF France and GIS3M. The participants in the workshop welcomed the initiative and made some proposals for optimizing the platform like developing Terms of Reference for members to fulfill before these being approved. Second platform that was used and training on its use was provided is INTERCET: web-GIS platform created for storage and integrated analysis of geo-referenced photographic data. It is developed by Aquario di Genova within cross-border project GIONHA between Italy and France. The training was led by Guido Gnone and Michela Bellingeri. The use of the INTERCET is recommended by the Conservation Plan for Bottlenose dolphin in the Mediterranean Sea. Additional short presentations informed the participants on current activities in the ACCOBAMS area.
Second workshop “Developing analytical protocols to assess trends in cetacean populations from structured surveillance data collected on ferries” was organized by European Cetacean Monitoring Coalition. The activities and deployed methods for collecting data on board of regular ferry lines and cruise ships have been presented covering North Sea, Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Two work groups have discussed how to improve quality of collected data and their use as complementary source of data in national cetacean monitoring schemes in European countries.
The 29th Conference of the European Cetaceans Society gathered more than 300 experts from all over the world. In total 200 contributions have been presented with posters and speeches divided in several categories: UNDERWATER NOISE, A THREAT TO MARINE LIFE; ECOLOGY & ECO-TOXICOLOGY; ACOUSTICS AND STRANDINGS; SURVIVAL NEEDS AND PATHOLOGY; CONSERVATION GENETICS; FORAGING & FISHERIES; CONSERVATION, MIGRATIONS & MARINE PROTECTED AREAS; MONITORING MARINE MAMMALS; MONITORING CETACEANS & HUMAN IMPACTS. The program was complemented with a Video night; Annual General Meeting of ECS and special awards. This year the Cetacean Conservation Award was handed to Dr. Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara – President of Tethys Research Institute (Italy).
We owe special thanks and praise for the wonderful organization to the ECS Organizing Committee and the hosts from Biological Conservation Research Foundation (BICREF) from Malta.
