Mysterious beaked whales are being sought in Croatia

In the Adriatic Sea, an international expedition of Croatian and Italian scientists began studying a rare cetacean - Cuvier's beaked whale. The life of the only representative of the genus Ziphius in the Mediterranean region has been poorly studied. It is known that these 7-meter giants can dive to a depth of 3 kilometers and spend more than 2 hours under water. In addition, they are very sensitive to noise. Therefore, they are not easy to detect.

However, biologists from several Italian and Croatian conservation organizations have teamed up in hopes of finding beaked whales in the southern Adriatic, attaching satellite transmitters to them, and also trying to obtain tissue samples from the mysterious animal. For these purposes, the 14-meter catamaran Coolway was launched in October, reported the Blue World Research Institute.

According to research coordinator Catherine Fortune: “Satellite monitoring is a powerful method that will provide key information for the further protection of this species. These creatures know no boundaries, so international collaboration was necessary to ensure the research had the greatest chance of success."

This is the first expedition of its kind off the coast of Croatia. The work will be carried out under the marine environment monitoring program within the framework of the EU MSFD directive in the field of marine environmental policy. Funding provided by the Italian Ministry of Environment and Energy Security. The work is coordinated by the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research.