Mediterranean dolphins live in one of the most anthropogenically impacted marine environments in the world. Fisheries, marine traffic, oil and gas extraction, seismic surveys and naval exercises, high level of tourism and a huge number of recreational vessels threaten their survival!
Learn how your adoption can help
Every year Blue World Institute organises hundreds of activities for children, schools, universities and general public, raising public awareness on problems our dolphins are facing in the Mediterranean and the Adriatic. We are actively cooperating with fisherman, tourism developers and authorities in finding ways to minimise human impact on dolphins and the sea. This is why your contribution by symbolic adoption will make a sea of difference and support our work to minimise the threats dolphins face today, and ensure they have a future in our seas.
The Mediterranean is one of the most overfished seas of the world. Therefore, it is hard for dolphins to find enough food to sustain themselves. Adding to this, Illegal or discarded fishing gears floating in the sea cause entanglement and death of thousands of dolphins and other sea creatures like sea turtles, sharks and sea birds.
For dolphins, sound is equally important as vison is to humans. They use sound to communicate, orient themselves and hunt. Loud noise in their environment disrupts their natural behaviour, prevents them in finding food and in maintaining their social bonds. In the Mediterranean, hundreds of thousands of huge ships produce constant and loud noise.
Due to closeness to humans, bottlenose dolphins are inevitably exposed to constant disturbance. Without following codes of conduct in the presence of dolphins, people are often disturbing animals that are nursing their young, searching for food or resting. Constant disturbance and stress can cause death in newborn animals.
Rivers, rain and sewage carry a huge part of harmful chemical compounds we use every day to the sea. They accumulate in the tissues of dolphins and cause poisoning, disease, and death. There is also an increasing amount of single use plastic in the sea which is dangerous when ingested, as it may cause a slow and painful death for dolphins.
Blue World Institute is carrying out the longest running research and conservation program of a resident dolphin population in the Mediterranean and one of the longest running in the world! Our activities started in 1987 in the Adriatic sea and thanks to your generous support we never stopped! On the contrary, your support enabled us to provide important data to Croatian authorities, used to declare six bottlenose dolphin protection areas along the eastern coast of the Adriatic!
We are now expanding our international projects that will have positive impact on the populations of marine mammals in the whole Mediterranean sea and involve people from all the countries surrounding it, and we need your help to do it.
Our data contributed to the declaration of six Natura 2000 marine protected areas for bottlenose dolphins in Croatia. We are carrying out regular monitoring activities in these protected areas, ensuring the positive conservation status of bottlenose dolphins. By collaborating with their respective managers we are working on ensuring long-term dolphin protection inside and beyond these protected areas.
We carry out research activities in the entire Adriatic Sea from two field bases located on Lošinj and Vis islands. Research includes seasonal boat surveying in coastal areas and regular aerial surveys of the entire Adriatic Sea whereby we collect data on abundance, habitat use, social structure, behaviour, pollution, disturbance, negative interaction with fisheries, etc. These data are vital in understanding and developing effective dolphin conservation and management measures.
We believe that conservation activities always start with education. That is why we have dozens of programs aimed at kindergartens, primary and high school pupils. Over 100,000 people visited our Education centre and over 350 school groups participated in education workshops. We are providing professional training in research and mentoring to undergraduate and graduate students from all around the world, completing their graduate and PhD theses. We are developing citizen science programs and using digital technology and channels to enable people around the world to take part in what we do, and countribute to the preservation of dolphins and the marine environment.
For centuries oceans were considered vast and almost impossible to pollute. Today, wherever we look we can find trash - on the coasts, on the sea bottom and floating in the sea. Plastic is among the worst and comes in many forms that are all equally deadly to marine animals and the entire ecosystem. We regularly organise community-based clean-up actions in collaboration with schools, dive clubs, communal service and local government, removing large quantities of trash from beaches and the sea bottom with the aim of helping the recovery of our environment. Clean-up actions are also stimulating change in our behaviour and making people more appreciative of their common environment.
Numerous negative human activities are threatening dolphins in the offshore areas, far away from our eyes. Entanglement and by-catch in different fishing gear, seismic surveys and hydrocarbon extraction, oil and cargo shipping can all cause death and injuries to dolphins and other marine animals. Advocating for protection in these waters where most problems happen, is one of our key activities. BWI is actively working with many local and international organisations and institutions to raise awareness and develop conservation measures for protected areas that extend beyond national borders.
Dominant male that lives East of Lošinj and is often seen close to the island. His life is like an open book to our researchers because they are following him since his birth in 1990. All of his friends and family are well documented. Meta is often seen by our fellow dolphin watchers, easily recognised by his fin and the unique shape of his mouth. Meta is one of those dolphins that you can’t get enough of :).
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Apple lives East of Lošinj island. She was born in 2010 to dolphin named Nola and since than is constantly around. This young mother gave birth in the summer 2020 and ever since is transferring her different life skills to her offspring. We all know that dolphins are social animals but with Apple it is so obvious that she is family oriented. Apple enjoys being in a company of her mum Nola and grandmother Quiz. So, currently four generations of this family can be seen East of Lošinj!
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Mijo is a resident male dolphin swimming in the waters around the island of Vis. We saw him for the first time at very beginning of our research in that area, back in 2007. He was named after a fisherman from the island of Hvar. As if local, Mijo is often seen together with the same friends, always in the same dolphin group. They act like a closed group of friends – very devoted to each other. Mijo delivered our researchers one of the most amazing spectacle ever! We are talking about riding the bow of the large ferry Petar Hektorovic.
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Vivi is a female dolphin, usually seen together with her best friends Rudi, Vili and Greta feeding behind the trawlers South-East of the island of Vis. Her large body can easily be recognised by highly marked dorsal fin. Each time they are playing, socialising or fightening they tend to hurt each other. For our researchers, dorsal fin scars are the most important ones because based on them the dolphins can be identified. Although all the dolphins like to jump Vivi is the Queen of jumping in Vis waters. For the first time she was seen in 2008. In 2014 she became a mother.
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Stripi is a resident male in the waters South of the island of Vis. For the first time he was seen in 2009. Since than our researcher often captured him on camera with his head out of the water, seemingly smiling. He got the name based on the Italian cartoon Stripy, a funny creature that spends most his time laughing and making others laugh. In the cartoon, Stripy is funny character, with long ears, nose and tail, that is pulling pranks on the others. In real life, he was pulling the pranks as well e.g. chasing around the newcomer male V_1950, trying to bite his tail.
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Zoom is quite an explorative female and very energetic dolphin. Seen for the first time in 2008. She is one of three siblings, spotted very often in Lošinj waters. Almost each encounter with Zoom was a spectacle as she was preforming high jumps. Nevertheless, Zoom is a very caring mum. She had her first calf in 2016. She likes to hang around with her best friends Kiselo and Luca, who are both mothers as well.
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