Last week we attended a workshop about rescuing sea turtles and cetaceans, which was organized by University of Primorska in Koper as a part of the project NETCET (Network for the conservation of Cetaceans and Sea Turtles in Adriatic).The workshop was targeting all those who spend a lot of time at sea (fishermen, biologists, environmentalists …) and can at any time meet injured or weakened sea turtles and cetaceans. We responded to the invitation with great interest since the sea turtles and cetaceans share their environment with Mediterranean shags and other sea birds, which are being protected through Natura 2000 mechanisms.
At the workshop we were acquainted with techniques for provisioning first aid to affected sea turtles and dolphins. As we learned in very interesting presentations, given by expert biologist for sea turtles and cetaceans, these animals come accross similar problems as do “our” birds, in Slovenian sea as well as broader in the North Adriatic. Therefore networking with experts and scientists which make efforts to protect these species is very important from the seabirds’ conservation point of view.
Short instructions for first aid:
Sea turtles
Sea turtles are regular inhabitants of the Adriatic sea and are very common in some areas and seasons. There are three species of sea turtles living in the Mediterranean sea and only the first one is common in the Adriatic sea:
- Loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta),
- Green turtle (Chelonya mydas) and
- Leaderback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea).
Loggerhead sea turtles visit North Adriatic in great numbers and are the most common sea turtles in Slovenian sea. Their occurence in the North Adriatic has several things in common with the occurence of Mediterranean shags in this area. The North Adriatic is an important foraging habitat for them in summer, as holds true for the Mediterranean shags. They forage at the sea bottom and feed on organisms which represent energetically valuable food which enables them fast growing in their youth. Because they are limited with diving depth, a shallow sea up to 200 m is their crucial foraging environment.
The biggest poblem that sea turtles face in the North Adriatic, as well in Slovenia, is unintentional catch in the fisheries nets (bycatch), additional problem being plastic particles which they consume, and recreative boats. In Adriatic sea only, there are around 11.000 individuals recorded caught in the nets every year, in Slovenian sea particularly in the gill nets. It is known that Mediterranean shags regularly entangle in gill nets in Slovenian sea but there are no data about the number of such incidents. In other Adriatic regions many sea turtles resting at the sea bottom during winter, get caught in trawlers, while in the western Mediterranean there is a lot of bycatch with parangals. A project “Let’s keep sea turtles in or sea” was implemented in Slovenia in recent years through which fishermen were stimulated to report data on sea turtles bycatch in their fishing gear and help them to safely return to the sea.
Cetaceans
There are eight species of Cetaceans permanently present in the Mediterranean sea, only one of which inhabits entire Adriatic sea – bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus), and another one the South Adriatic – striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba).
The following species occasionally occur in the Adriatic sea as well:
- Short-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus delphis),
- Risso’s dolphin (Grampus griseus),
- Sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) and
- Fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus).
A permanent population of bottlenose dolphins lives in the North Adriatic which is obviously separated from the Cres – Lošinj population. A part of this population regularly occurs in Slovenian sea, where it has being monitored for several years by experts and members of Morigenos association. A number of factors are threatening Cetaceans in the Adriatic sea: intentional catch (illegal!), bycatch in the fisheries gear, underwater noise, disturbance and injuries from recreational boats and pollution and degradation of habitat.