Dolphins and whales, indicator species for the well being of the ecosystem, are dealing with immense stress attributable to threats akin to overfishing and plastic air pollution, stated Arda Tonay, a school member of Istanbul University’s Faculty of Aquatic Sciences, Department of Marine and Inland Water Resources Management and vp of the Turkish Marine Research Foundation (TÜDAV).
Regarding the number of marine species, Tonay stated: “There are eight cetaceous constantly found in the seas of Türkiye, including the long whale, puffer, beaked, grampus, bottlenose dolphin, striped dolphin and harbor porpoises. There are also minke whales, false killer whales and humpback dolphins in Turkish seas.”
Mentioning that there are three species within the straits of Istanbul, the Dardanelles and the Marmara Sea, Tonay stated that the variety of dolphin and whale species within the basin was not identified with right this moment’s readability till three years in the past.
“Thanks to the Agreement on the Conservation of Setase Species Living in the Black Sea, the Mediterranean and the Contiguous Atlantic Region (ACCOBAMS) Survey Initiative (ASI) and eight aircraft, six ships and 100 scientists from 26 countries in the Mediterranean in 2018 and in the Black Sea in 2019, we counted whales and dolphins. The study shows that the largest whale in the Mediterranean and the second largest in the world, the long whale, has a 1,700 adult population here and this species is endangered. However, the population of beaked whales in the Mediterranean is about 6,000 and is decreasing. The smallest species of the Black Sea basin, the harbor porpoise, with a maximum length of 1.5 meters, are estimated to number between 100,000-250,000,” Tony defined.
Pointing out the variety of useless harbor porpoises caught within the Black Sea, Tonay stated, “Only in the Western Black Sea coast of Türkiye, about 2,000 harbor porpoises die each year.”
Stating that whales and dolphins, which symbolize the highest of the meals chain within the seas, are indicator species for the well being of the ecosystem, “If there is a whale and dolphin somewhere, the ecosystem is at an acceptable level,” Tonay stated.
“Whales are animals that can dive deep, up to 2,000-3,000 meters, and feed on deep-dwelling squid. When they defecate, they come to the surface to breathe. They use phytoplankton and photosynthesis. Fifty percent of the air we breathe comes from phytoplankton. The system is one of the largest and pulling anything out of it will cause the system to crash,” he added.
Threats to marine life
Emphasizing that fishing actions prime the stress components that threaten the species, Tonay drew consideration to the truth that small species that aren’t conscious of the fishing nets are caught within the nets by likelihood. In addition to the specter of overfishing, air pollution weakens the immune system of animals, whales and dolphins.
“Studies, such as seismic research in the seas, can also be dangerous for deep-diving species,” Tonay identified.
Explaining that plastic waste is one other stress issue, Tonay stated: “There are animals that have a lot of plastic waste in their stomach. This can cause their death or affect their diving. Last year, we removed plastic buckets and bags from the stomach of a puffer whale.”
Pointing out that knowledge concerning the fish inhabitants within the seas is essential by way of creating protected areas, Tonay acknowledged, “There is not even a single protected area in the Black Sea.”
ACCOBAMS, which Türkiye signed in 2018, is a very powerful safety settlement for marine mammals. During the celebration of the twenty fifth anniversary of ACCOBAMS’s founding, a e-book was launched in regards to the seas by the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco with the participation of Prince Albert II. The e-book is free and may be downloaded from the ACCOBAMS web site for anybody who wish to find out about these distinctive animals.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
