Daphne becomes a mother once again

These days are very exciting for the Morigenos team. Daphne, one of our dolphins, is accompanied by a tiny creature, her newborn calf. This little bun, hardly a meter long, has become the youngest member of our dolphin population. When we last saw Daphne, her belly was already rather round, which hinted at the possibility of the calf's arrival. When we last saw it, the calf frolicked alongside its mother, and even bravely approached our boat. This is Daphne's third calf. Her previous calf, born in spring 2011, was missing from the group for the first time, suggesting it has successfully become an independent dolphin. We hope Daphne will be as successful with the new calf as she was with the previous one.

Delfinka Daphne je znova mamica

V društvu Morigenos smo te dni zelo veseli. Ob delfinki Daphne namreč plava čisto drobceno bitjece, njen novorojeni mladič. Tale majhna štruca, dolga le slab meter, je tako najmlajši član naše delfinje populacije. Ko smo Daphne nazadnje videli, je bil njen trebuh že precej okrogel, zato smo potencialni prihod mladička že malce slutili. Ko smo ga nazadnje videli, je mladiček razposajeno plaval ob mami, nekajkrat pa se je pogumno približal tudi našemu čolnu. Daphne je tako že tretjič, odkar jo poznamo, postala mama. Njenega prejšnjega mladiča, ki se je skotil spomladi leta 2011, tokrat prvič ni bilo ob njej, kar kaže na to, da se je uspešno osamosvojil. Upamo, da bo Daphne pri novemu mladičku enako uspešna kot je bila pri prejšnjem.

Nature of Piran in the eyes youth – what we saw

This week we have set out for a special photographic challenge with youth. As part of the project Nature of Piran in the eyes of youth, co-financed by municipality Piran, we organized an interesting expedition. First Gregor Kervina, young professional photographer introduced basics of photography, then we went searching for motives by the coast and grass field. Next day we tested our skills on the research boat of Morigenos. Dolphins have greeted us just in front of Piran and presented a real challenge for young photographers. Our meeting was concluded with very nice impressions. Young participants got to know around 30 of our dolphins with calves that prepared an unforgettable experience for the end. A lot of nice photographs have been made, that will be a part of the upcoming photo exhibition.

Narava Pirana v očeh mladih - kaj smo videli

Z mladimi smo se v tem tednu podali na prav poseben fotografski izziv. V okviru projekta Narava Pirana v očeh mladih, ki ga sofinancira Občina Piran, smo izvedli zanimivo odpravo. Z mladim profesionalnim fotografom Gregorjem Kervino smo spoznali osnove fotografije in se odpravili na lov za motivi ob obali in po travniku. Svoje fotografske sposobnosti smo naslednji dan preizkusili tudi na raziskovalnem plovilu društva Morigenos. Pravi izziv za mlade fotografe so bili delfini, ki smo jih srečali prav pred Piranom. Naše srečanje smo zaključili polni lepih vtisov, saj so mladi spoznali približno 30 naših delfinov z mladički, ki so nam pripravili nepozaben zaključek druženja. Nastalo je veliko lepih fotografij, ki jih bomo kmalu predstavili v fotografski razstavi.

Field practical for students of the University of Primorska

Last week we were visited by students of the master course Nature Conservation, run by the University of Primorska, as part of their field practical. The aim of the practical was to demonstrate research in the field and allow students to gain practical experience in marine mammal science. The effort was well paid off, as we saw a number of sea inhabitants: Mediterranean shearwaters, shags, tuna and a group of about thirty dolphins that came to feed in the waters around Piran. The group contained our well-known friends, including babies. We present some of the fieldwork moments and the highlights of the »show« off Piran.

Terenski praktikum za študente Univerze na Primorskem

Pretekli teden so nas v okviru terenskega praktikuma obiskali študentje magistrskega programa Varstvo narave, ki ga izvaja Univerza na Primorskem. Namen praktikuma je bil prikaz terenskega dela in pridobivanje praktičnih izkušenj s področja raziskovanja morskih sesalcev. Trud je bil na koncu poplačan, saj smo poleg sredozemskih viharnikov, vranjekov in tun srečali tudi skupino približno tridesetih delfinov, ki se je prišla prehranjevat v okolico Pirana. Šlo je za nam dobro poznane delfine, med njimi pa so bili tudi mladički. Predstavljamo nekaj utrinkov terenskega dela ter »predstave« pred Piranom.

Meeting of the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission

Slovenia hosted the 65th meeting of the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), between 12 and 24th May 2014 in Bled. The IWC Scientific Committee is one of the most prominent and respectable international bodies for issues related to whale and dolphin research and conservation. Each year the Scientific Committee reviews the status of populations and new findings in various aspects of cetacean biology and conservation. Its assessments are used to make recommendations to the IWC and its member states. Although some countries (e.g. Norway, Iceland and Japan) hunt whales, most do not agree with commercial or »scientific« whaling, and the IWC also deals with species and topics not directly related to whaling. The meeting was attended by Tilen Genov as the invited expert from Slovenia, presenting the studies and status of the dolphin population along the Slovenian coast and in the northern Adriatic. As part of the excursion organised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, the team of Morigenos presented the 12-year work to participants from all over the world. The incredibly positive feedback and compliments from foreign experts provided us with additional motivation for our continued work.

Srečanje Znanstvenega odbora Mednarodne komisije za kitolov

Na Bledu je od 12. do 24. maja 2014 potekalo 65. zasedanje Znanstvenega odbora Mednarodne komisije za kitolov (International Whaling Commission, IWC). Znanstveni odbor omenjene komisije je eno izmed najbolj uveljavljenih in uglednih mednarodnih teles za vprašanja raziskovanja in varstva kitov in delfinov. Na vsakoletnem zasedanju obravnava stanje populacij ter nova spoznanja na različnih področjih njihove biologije in varstva, svoja spoznanja pa uporablja za priporočila Komisiji in njenim članicam. Kljub temu, da nekatere države (npr. Norveška, Islandija in Japonska) lovijo kite, jih večina komercialnemu in t.i. »znanstvenemu« kitolovu nasprotuje, Komisija pa se ukvarja tudi z vrstami in vprašanji, ki niso neposredno vezana na kitolov. Kot vabljeni strokovnjak iz Slovenije se je srečanja udeležil Tilen Genov, ki je predstavil raziskovanje in stanje populacije delfinov ob slovenski obali in v severnem Jadranu, društvo Morigenos pa je v okviru ekskurzije, ki jo je organiziralo Ministrstvo za kmetijstvo in okolje, udeležencem z vsega sveta predstavilo rezultate svojega 12-etnega dela. Izredno pozitivni odzivi ter pohvale tujih strokovnjakov so nam dali dodatni zagon za nadaljnje delo.