Volunteer with Dolphins in Greece

Описание: Become a marine conservation volunteer and participate in dolphin research in the Ionian Sea - help to provide a marine environment that provides long-term viability for the species. The research focuses on the Bottlenose Dolphin and the Short-Beaked Common Dolphin, in the Amvrakikos Gulf and the Inner Ionian Sea archipelago.

We have places for Cetacean Volunteer Researchers to join for one or more weeks from June to September each year.

Individuals, groups, families and students doing research all welcome.

http://www.workingabroad.com/projects...

Filmed by: Andreas Kornevall
Music: Jairamji (www.jairamji.bandcamp.com)

Video Transcript Below:

Volunteer with Dolphins in Greece

Q: What are you working on at the Dolphin Project?

Joan Gonzalvo, Project Director: ‘My name is Joan Gonzalvo. I’m the director of the project, of the Dolphin Project. The Dolphin Project is based in Western Greece. We are studying primarily two dolphin species, the bottlenose dolphins and the common dolphins. We have two study areas: the Gulf of Ambracia and the Inner Ionian Sea Archipelago which are areas which are very close to each other, but very different in terms of impact of human activities and the issues regarding the conservation of cetaceans.

Q: What role do the volunteers play with this project?

Ioannis Giovos, Principal investigator: ‘We are in the gulf with the highest density of bottlenose dolphins in the Mediterranean, at least reported by now, and there are 150 individuals here. Because the density is very high it’s easy to go out, we guarantee that we see dolphins, if not every day, we guarantee at least three or four days per week. So, volunteers are coming here. They are participating with us and they are coming with us out in the boats. They help us with the research in the boats, they record the behaviour of the dolphins, and then in the afternoon when we are back, they work with the photos. So they do Photo I.D, they learn about the research and they work on the research.

Q: As a volunteer with this project, what have you been up to?

Vicky McNeil, workingabroad.com: ‘So as volunteers we took part in photo identification, we took information on the behaviour of the dolphins, we took information on the dive time-how long they dive for and so on. All of this data is recorded as part of a long-term conservation effort. And then the last two days, we went to the inner Ionian Sea where they had a second location of the research project, and we were extremely lucky to see about 25 to 30 short-beaked common dolphins and they were flipping and jumping and it was absolutely amazing. For me, it was my highlight!