Page 81 - Livre_MOW2024_EN

SHARING SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS | 79

1

Key findings from the first ACCOBAMS survey:

1 FIN WHALES
(1,700 individuals, CV 28%), found mostly in
6
the north-western part of the Mediterranean
in the summer. This information is crucial for
protecting a species at serious risk from vessel
strikes;

2 STRIPED DOLPHINS
(425,000 individuals, CV 14%), the most common
cetacean in the Mediterranean, although the
species shows a strong preference for the
western part of the basin, no doubt due to the
2 greater availability of food there;

3 COMMON BOTTLENOSE DOLPHINS
(76,000 individuals, CV 21%), a coastal species
mainly observed over the continental shelf
across the whole of the Mediterranean, but with
high concentrations in the Strait of Sicily, the
Adriatic Sea and the Aegean Sea.

6. The lower is the value of the coefficient of variation (CV),
the more accurate is the estimate.

3

The data gathered enabled the IUCN Red List
conservation status of cetaceans in the ACCOBAMS
area to be assessed:

• The status of the striped dolphin and common
bottlenose dolphin improved from Vulnerable to
Least Concern,
• Mediterranean fin whales, on the other hand,
went from Vulnerable to Endangered,
• Rough-toothed dolphins were classed as Near
Threatened,
• Risso’s dolphins and Cuvier’s beaked whales,
previously listed as Data Deficient, were reclassified
respectively as Endangered and Vulnerable.