Common dolphin – an uncommon visitor in the Gulf of Trieste

Common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) in the Gulf of Trieste. Photo: Tilen Genov, Morigenos

There is an unusual visitor present in the Gulf of Trieste in the past year. It is a short-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) that Morigenos researchers and biologists from Miramare Marine Protected Area have been monitoring for over a year. It is a species that was once common in the Adriatic, but has become very rare in the last 30 years - it is now considered regionally extinct in the Adriatic Sea.

In June 2010 our colleagues from Miramare informed us about two dolphins of unknown species that were spotted close to the port of Monfalcone several days in a row. We immediately headed out to sea in order to check it out. We found two dolphins, a mother and a calf, inside the port itself. We soon determined that they were short-beaked common dolphins. We photographed the animals for individual identification, assessed their condition and observed their behaviour. The female appeared healthy, but the calf showed signs of poor health. We sent the dorsal fin photographs of the female to our colleagues from Tethys Research Institute in Greece and discovered that she had been encountered there before. This means she travelled at least 1000 km, which is the longest recorded movement of this species, worldwide. We presented this information at one of this year's marine mammal conferences. The mother and calf stayed in the port until February 2011. After this, the calf disappeared and the female moved out of the port soon afterwards. Since then we have been seeing her occasionally in various other locations in the Gulf of Trieste. She looks healthy and often very playful. The most important thing for her now is that people do not harass her or attempt any close contact with her. Wild animals should remain wild. If this dolphin becomes a so called »solitary sociable dolphin« and starts seeking human company, that could in the long term prove to be dangerous not only for her, but also for the people.

The short-beaked common dolphin used to be one of the most widespread and abundant dolphin species in the Mediterranean. Today the Mediterranean population is classified as endangered. Common dolphins have become very rare in the eastern and in several parts of the western Mediterranean. Why this particular female swam all this way and stayed here remains a mystery.

Navadni delfin – nenavadni obiskovalec v Tržaškem zalivu

Na fotografiji: Navadni delfin (Delphinus delphis) v Tržaškem zalivu. Foto: Tilen Genov, Morigenos

V Tržaškem zalivu imamo v zadnjem letu nenavadnega obiskovalca, saj se na tem območju zadržuje navadni delfin (Delphinus delphis), ki ga raziskovalci društva Morigenos v sodelovanju z biologi morskega rezervata Miramare spremljamo že več kot eno leto. To je vrsta, ki je bila nekoč v Jadranskem morju pogosta, danes pa je na tem območju ne najdemo več in jo obravnavamo kot regionalno izumrlo.

V juniju 2010 smo v društvu Morigenos od kolegov iz morskega rezervata Miramare prejeli obvestilo o dveh delfinih neznane vrste, ki sta bila opažena nedaleč od pristanišča Monfalcone (Tržič) več dni zapored. Nemudoma smo se odpravili na morje, da bi zadevo preverili. V samem pristanišču smo našli dva delfina, mamo in mladiča. Kmalu smo ugotovili, da gre za navadna delfina, vrsto, ki je v Jadranskem morju postala izredno redka. Živali smo fotografirali za individualno identifikacijo, ocenili njuno stanje in redno beležili njuno vedenje. Samica je bila videti zdrava, mladič pa je kazal znake zdravstvenih težav. Fotografije hrbtne plavuti samice smo posredovali kolegom inštituta Tethys v Grčiji in ugotovili, da je bila pri njih že opažena. To pomeni, da je na svoji poti preplavala vsaj 1000 km, kar je doslej najdaljša zabeležena pot za navadnega delfina. O tem smo letos poročali tudi na mednarodnem znanstvenem kongresu o morskih sesalcih. Mama in mladič sta bila v omenjenem pristanišču vse do februarja letos, ko je mladiček izginil, samica pa je kmalu po tem zapustila pristanišče. Od takrat jo občasno srečujemo na različnih drugih lokacijah v Tržaškem zalivu. Videti je zdrava in pogosto zelo razposajena. Zanjo je v tem trenutku zelo pomembno, da jo ljudje ne nadlegujejo in z njo ne skušajo vzpostaviti kakršnegakoli stika. Za divje živali je prav, da ostanejo divje. Če ta delfinka slučajno postane t.i. »socialni delfin«, ki bo iskal družbo človeka, utegne to biti dolgoročno nevarno tako zanjo, kot tudi za ljudi.

Navadni delfin je bil nekoč ena najbolj razširjenih in pogostih vrst delfinov v Sredozemlju. Danes je vrsta v Sredozemskem merilu ogrožena, v vzhodnem Sredozemlju pa so postali zelo redki. Zakaj je ta samica priplavala tako daleč in ostala tukaj, zaenkrat ostaja skrivnost.

Two whales in the Gulf of Trieste

Two fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) were spotted near Trieste this morning and photographed by our colleagues of the Miramare Marine Protected Area. Morigenos received a report of at least one of the whales being spotted again in the late afternoon between Izola and Piran, close to the coast, and then again in Piran Bay in the evening, where it was photographed by our friend photographer Rok Dolničar. See the photo here: Fin whale in the Gulf of Trieste
In order to track the occurrence of whales in these waters, we kindly ask you to inform us of any sightings at +386 31 77 10 77 . Many thanks to those of you who already reported your sightings to us!

Photo: fin whale in Trieste (Photo: Saul Ciriaco, Miramare MPA, WWF)

Dva kita v Tržaškem zalivu

Danes dopoldne sta bila pri Trstu opažena dva brazdasta kita (Balaenoptera physalus), ki so ju naši kolegi iz morskega rezervata Miramare tudi fotografirali. Društvo Morigenos je prejelo obvestilo, da je bil vsaj en od kitov v poznih popoldanskih urah ponovno opažen med Izolo in Piranom, nedaleč od obale, zvečer pa tudi v Piranskem zalivu, kjer ga je fotografiral naš prijatelj in fotograf Rok Dolničar. Fotografijo si lahko ogledate tukaj: Brazdasti kit v Tržaškem zalivu
Da bi lahko bolje spremljali pojavljanje in prisotnost kitov pri nas, vas vljudno prosimo, da morebitna opažanja čimprej sporočite društvu Morigenos na 031 77 10 77. Hvala vsem, ki ste nam svoja opažanja že sporočili!

Fotografija: brazdasti kit pred Trstom (Foto: Saul Ciriaco, morski rezervat Miramare, WWF)

Dolphin Day

Join us at the 7th Dolphin Day! Come and celebrate the 10th anniversary of Morigenos with us. Entry is free. For programme and details click on the photo (in Slovene and Italian). The programme includes workshops for children, an educational exhibition on dolphins in Slovenia, two boat trips with tour boat Solinarka, various fun and educational games for children, lecture about the 10 years of Morigenos work and dolphins in Slovenia, dance performances, sweet surprise, pantomime show and the concert of the popular band Kingston.

Dan delfinov

Vabimo vas na 7. Dan delfinov! Pridite in z nami praznujte 10. obletnico delovanja društva Morigenos. Vstop prost. Za program in podrobnosti kliknite na sliko!

Morigenos in ASCOBANS

Društvo Morigenos že nekaj časa sodeluje s sekretariatom sporazuma ASCOBANS (Sporazum o ohranjanju malih kitov v Baltiku, severovzhodnem Atlantiku ter Irskem in Severnem morju), čeprav delo društva ne poteka neposredno v geografskem območju tega sporazuma. Društvo Morigenos je v okviru sodelovanja sekretariatu za potrebe potujoče mednarodne razstave v uporabo odstopilo svoje fotografije. Fotografija delfina iz slovenskega morja pa je tudi na novi spletni strani sporazuma ASCOBANS, v poglavju o veliki pliskavki. Stran si lahko ogledate tukaj: ASCOBANS – Velika pliskavka

Morigenos and ASCOBANS

For some time now, Morigenos has been collaborating with the secretariat of the ASCOBANS agreement (Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the Baltic, North East Atlantic, Irish and North Seas), although Morigenos does not directly work in the geographical area of the agreement. We provided ASCOBANS with photographs that were used in an international travelling exhibition, while a photo of a dolphin from Slovenia is also used in the section about bottlenose dolphins on the new ASCOBANS website. You can check out the website here: ASCOBANS – Bottlenose dolphin