Mission Blue and One Ocean Foundation Call for Enhanced Protection for Marine Mammals off Italy’s Coast with Hope Spot Declared at Canyon of Caprera

March 18, 2024

Featured image: Striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba) © Luca Bittau

(SARDINIAN COAST, ITALY, MEDITERRANEAN SEA) –

Just about 15-30 nautical miles off the coast and under the waves of northeast Sardinia is the Canyon of Caprera, where the waters reach more than 1,000 meters deep and are teeming with marine life. The area is known as a brilliant habitat for marine mammals, including Cuvier’s beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris), Risso’s dolphin (Grampus griseus) and the critically endangered Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus). The Canyon of Caprera is currently recognized as an Area of Interest (AoI), however, One Ocean Foundation is committed to seeing an elevation in its protection status backed by a wealth of data from their research, including visual surveys, acoustic monitoring and environmental eDNA sampling that demonstrates the biologically important life within these waters.

 

International marine conservation nonprofit Mission Blue has identified Canyon of Caprera as a Hope Spot in support of elevating its protection to an Important Marine Mammal Area (IMMA) with an eye on an eventual designation of a marine protected area (MPA). Jan Pachner and Ginevra Boldrocchi, respectively Secretary General and Scientific project coordinator of One Ocean Foundation are recognized as its Hope Spot Champions.

 

 

Dr. Sylvia Earle, Founder of Mission Blue, says, “Congratulations to One Ocean Foundation and its partners for their great research efforts since 2019 that have contributed to increasing the current knowledge on the presence of marine biodiversity in the Canyon of Caprera.” She continues, “Thanks to their steady monitoring activities, One Ocean Foundation has implemented the current level of protection contributing to the conservation of keystone species in the Mediterranean Sea.”

 

 

“Following the last five years of scientific research, this is a very important recognition for all our efforts and we are more motivated than ever to work with all stakeholders towards our goal to preserve this uniquely rich ecosystem close to Sardinia”, comments Riccardo Bonadeo, President of One Ocean Foundation.

Dr. Ginevra Boldrocchi, Scientific Project Coordinator, says, “The conservation of marine mammals is a priority issue in marine management, thus, the Canyon of Caprera, representing a unique location within the Mediterranean Sea, deserves a higher level of protection. This Hope Spot can surely become a best practice for other similar areas that host such an incredible biodiversity of marine mammals.”

 

 

Both the local Sardinian government and the Italian Navy recognize the importance of safeguarding the territorial waters’ ecological status, especially where it has an important potential impact on the tourism industry.

The presence of the Monk seal, one of the rarest and world’s most endangered pinniped species, and the only one endemic to the Mediterranean Sea has been detected in eDNA analysis from samplings the Foundation conducted in the canyon waters. According to the U.S. Department of the Interior, eDNA is a technique for identifying DNA found in the environment from cellular material shed by organisms that have accumulated in the surrounding water. Cetacean species found in the Canyon of Caprera area are Cuvier’s beaked whale, Risso’s dolphin, sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus), common dolphin (Delphinus delphis), fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus), striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba) and bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus).

 

 

Threats to the local marine life are often seen from fishing activities including bottom trawling, which has shown be to significantly damaging, but also from maritime traffic alone. Collisions with boats, which can be fatal, cause damage to populations of large cetaceans, including sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) and fin whales. Ghost nets are commonly found in the waters, which trap and kill marine animals. Underwater noise pollution is also a concern, as well as chemical and plastic pollution.

 

 

Jan Pachner, Secretary General of One Ocean Foundation says, “We are planning to deploy smart buoys to monitor the movement of any vessels and activities while also continuously collecting data on ocean currents, acoustics, and the presence of marine fauna.” He adds, “A comprehensive and efficient management practice will be very important to truly implement the MPA.”

Looking to the future, the Foundation plans to partner with other organizations on installations of innovative technologies to avoid whale collisions and involve other national and international research institutes to increase and provide new research activities in the area. Public awareness – involving all stakeholders – is a priority for the Foundation and they have developed educational programs for local communities both children and adults to learn more about the life in their blue backyard and to raise the next generation to become empowered ocean stewards.

 

 

 

 

One Ocean Foundation’s partners include the Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation NATO-CMRE-STO, the University of Insubria, La Maddalena Archipelago National Park, SEAME Sardinia, CNR-IAS Oristano, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas – CSIC and the Italian Navy Maritime Command West. One Ocean Foundation is particularly grateful for the support of ROLEX to the project, as part of the Perpetual Planet Initiative.

About One Ocean Foundation

One Ocean Foundation, established in 2018, is an Italian non-profit organization dedicated to marine environment preservation, internationally recognized as a leading platform for sustainable development based on scientific research and data. The Foundation, guided by an international scientific committee, aims to accelerate solutions to ocean issues by inspiring leaders, institutions, and individuals by promoting a blue economy with real impact and enhancing ocean knowledge through ocean literacy. In the past years, the Foundation has involved more than 28K people through 350 projects and activities reaching from Europe to Asia.