“It was exciting to hear the sperm whale click on the hydrophone. In four days we recorded the presence of cetaceans seven times».

This was announced by Laura Pintore , expert biologist of marine megafauna for the WWF who with Giulia Prato , head of the association's Oceans program, coordinates the project "R!se - Sardinia, the forgotten giants" .

The researchers focused on the so-called Canyon of Castelsardo .

The program envisaged a study activity with innovative technologies to investigate the possible presence (mentioned in the stories of the fishermen of Northern Sardinia, but of which there was no certainty for about ten years) of cetaceans in the deep gorge which from the center of the gulf descends from the continental slope in a northwesterly direction.

For the search for marine mammals, aerial drones, hydrophones, environmental DNA detection kits and underwater drones were used on board a boat made available by Boomerang, a charter agency in Olbia.

A team of filmmakers is filming all phases of the project, at the end of which a documentary will be made and distributed on international channels.

Castelsardo was the first Municipality in Sardinia to sign the Partnership Charter of the Pelagos Sanctuary, and is now collaborating with the R!se project.

At the time, the city had also joined the research project called "Sardegna Nord Cetacei", promoted by the Department of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Sassari with the specific aim of monitoring the presence of cetaceans in this stretch of sea and evaluating the their state of health. The Castelsardo Canyon is included in the "Ten areas for new and strengthened protection" identified by the WWF in Italy, the only one in Sardinia together with the Sanctuary of Caprera.

(Unioneonline/lf)

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