DMAD's Article on the Decline of Dolphins in Montenegro Published in ACCOBAMS' FINS Journal

DMAD have article published in ACCOBAMS’ FINS article

The article by Tim Awbery and Aylin Akkaya focused on the ‘Worrying Decline in the Presence of Bottlenose Dolphins in Montenegro and the Importance of Citizen Science During COVID-19’ and was published by the The Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and contiguous Atlantic area (ACCOBAMS) in their annual FINS journal.

The article cited a notable decrease in the percentage of surveys where bottlenose dolphins were sighted (dropping from 43% in our first year studying in Montenegro to just 22% in the last year. It continued to state that due to the longevity of bottlenose dolphins, it is currently too early to draw trends in the population, but that DMAD implored Montenegrin decision makers to take precautionary measures to protect bottlenose dolphins, including the establishment of Montenegro’s first marine protected area.

It also discussed how COVID-19 has adversely affected DMAD, imposing restrictions that meant we were unable to survey from March to July. This left us with a considerable hole in our data, so we turned to locals for help. It was unfeasible for them to collect in-depth data, but we were able to obtain reliable coordinates with photographic evidence on more than 20 occasions including 17 in the Bay of Kotor (northern Montenegro) alone.

The article can be downloaded here.