Announcing ACCOBAMS New Executive Secretary

Starting in January 2025, the ACCOBAMS Secretariat will proudly welcome Maÿlis Salivas as the new Executive Secretary. We’re excited for this new chapter and the continued efforts towards cetacean conservation under her leadership!

Maÿlis SALIVAS brings over 15 years of expertise in marine biodiversity conservation to her role as the new Executive Secretary of ACCOBAMS. Holding a PhD in Population Biology with a specialization in Marine Ecology, she has developed a strong background in environmental monitoring and coastal ecosystem assessment. She has been working in the ACCOBAMS Secretariat since 2010 as Project & Programme Officer and has played a key role in coordinating important conservation initiatives and collaborating with national governments, international organizations, and other key stakeholders. Maylis SALIVAS is dedicated to enhancing regional cooperation, advancing scientific research, and ensuring the sustainable conservation of cetaceans across the Black Sea, Mediterranean, and Atlantic regions. With her strategic leadership and deep commitment, she looks forward to guide ACCOBAMS into its next phase of impactful collaboration and conservation.

Joint ACCOBAMS-ASCOBANS workshop with navies on underwater noise and cetaceans

The Joint ACCOBAMS-ASCOBANS workshop with navies on underwater noise and cetaceans will take place from 26 to 27 November 2024 in Toulon, France, kindly hosted by the Préfecture maritime de la Méditerranée.

Objectives of the workshop

– To exchange information on best practice experiences and activities

– To promote collaboration

– To discuss steps towards improved exchange of information

More information

Density and abundance estimates of cetaceans in the Black Sea: The results of the ASI/CeNoBS aerial survey now published

   

Three species of cetaceans, all represented by local subspecies, inhabit the Black Sea: the Black Sea common dolphin Delphinus delphis ponticus, the Black Sea bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus ponticus, and the Black Sea harbour porpoise Phocoena phocoena relicta. Their populations are threatened by multiple factors, including overfishing of their prey, bycatch, pollution and epizootics. In 2019, in cooperation and with support from the Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and contiguous Atlantic Area (ACCOBAMS), within the framework of the ACCOBAMS Survey Initiative (ASI), a systematic study was carried out under the Support MSFD implementation in the Black Sea through establishing a regional monitoring system of cetaceans (D1) and noise monitoring (D11) for achieving GES – EU CeNoBS Project. Six strata in the waters of Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Türkiye and Ukraine, covering most of territorial and offshore waters and 52% of the total Black Sea area, were surveyed between June 19 and July 4, 15 days at good weather conditions. A total of 7,324 kilometres of transects were surveyed recording a total of 1,744 cetacean sightings.

 

This first synoptic aerial survey for cetaceans in the Black Sea yielded comprehensive data and the first robust insights on global abundance, distribution and density for all three cetacean species, as well as strengthened the collaboration of cetacean scientists within and beyond the Black Sea.

 

 The full paper (open access) can be found at:  https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2024.1248950/full

Paiu R-M, Cañadas A, Dede A, Meshkova G, Murariu D, Amaha Ozturk A, Popov D, Tonay AM, Timofte C, Kopaliani N, Gol’din P and Panigada S (2024) Density and abundance estimates of cetaceans in the Black Sea through aerial surveys (ASI/CeNoBS). Front. Mar. Sci. 11:1248950. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2024.1248950

Full press release