In the summer of 2007, Nautilus’ research team and scientists from “Pelagos” Institute initiated an attempt in order to allocate and observe dolphins in Greece at the Ionian Sea.
The research team went to Kefallinia and wandered around Lixouri, where there were rumours about a lonely dolphin. The observation continued until the team reached Pylos, when they run across many striped dolphins.
There are four kinds of dolphins in Greece. These are: bottlenose dolphins, striped dolphins, common dolphins and Risso's dolphins.
Bottlenose dolphins are the biggest in size in the Greek seas, and reach up to 3.9m in the Mediterranean. Bottlenose dolphins usually swim near the shore, and that’s why they’re the most popular. That’s also the reason why they usually are considered harmful by the inshore fishermen, as they are really smart and have been adapted to the environment by “stealing” fish from their nets and fish farms.
Common dolphins are smaller than bottlenose dolphins. One of their distinctive characteristics is the dark coloured back, while there is a V- shaped pattern on each side. They also have longer and thinner rostrums, compared with the striped dolphins.
During the second mission, scientists from Alonnisos Marine Park met the research team of “Nautilus” on board of the “Aegean” oceanographic ship and headed towards to Alonnisos Marine Park. There, we found the Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus) playing “hide and seek”….
Between Alonnisos and the islet Peristera a herd of common dolphins approached the boat… Few of them have now remained. A long time ago they were really “common”, as their population was much bigger. They continued playing for a long time near the boat. They even turned on their side in order to have a closer contact with us. Dolphins can see equally well in and out of the water. Their vision is not limited to shadows and outlines and when their eyes focus on you, they don’t just look at you… They can actually s e e you…
