Dolphins of the Istanbul Strait
Monitoring marine mammals in an area of high marine traffic
Our work under WWF – Turkey involves us covering the entire Strait of Istanbul, an area of
exceptionally high marine traffic to collect photographs to update a photo identification catalogue
collected over ten years.
These photographs are matched to the existing catalogue in order to see if it is the same dolphins and porpoises that are using the Strait and if they stick to one area of the Strait or move between areas. We also collect behavioural data to see if the dolphins behaviour is affected by the high marine presence.