Bottlenose dolphins around Kalamos, Greece

A relatively stable presence of bottlenose dolphins was observed in the waters surrounding the island of Kalamos, in western Greece. About 25 animals have shown high levels of site fidelity over the past decade, while others use the area only occasionally. Their flexible feeding habits and opportunistic behaviour may allow them to withstand the effects of overfishing and habitat degradation, but they survive at low densities (approximately 0.6 groups/100km).

Little information exists for other portions of the Ionian Sea. Bottlenose dolphins can be expected to be found in coastal waters throughout the region, but their densities may vary greatly, dependig largely on prey abundance and levels of competition with other marine predators and coastal fisheries.

Cetacean Alliance investigators:

For more information, see:

Bearzi G., Politi E., Agazzi S., Bruno S., Costa M., Bonizzoni S. 2005. Occurrence and present status of coastal dolphins (Delphinus delphis and Tursiops truncatus) in the eastern Ionian Sea. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 15:243-257. (278 Kb)

Bearzi G., Politi E., Agazzi S., Azzellino A. 2006. Prey depletion caused by overfishing and the decline of marine megafauna in eastern Ionian Sea coastal waters (central Mediterranean). Biological Conservation 127(4):373-382. (444 Kb)