TY - JOUR T1 - Distribution of three cetacean species along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast in 2006-2013 AU - Panayotova, Marina AU - Todorova, Valentina PY - 2015 DA - April JF - Journal of Black Sea / Mediterranean Environment PB - Türk Deniz Araştırmaları Vakfı WT - DergiPark SN - 1304-9550 SP - 45 EP - 53 VL - 21 IS - 1 LA - en AB - AbstractOpportunistic observations of small cetacean species were made on board of fishing vessels and the 55-m research vessel "Akademik" during 20 surveys, carried out between April and November over the period 2006-2013 in the Bulgarian Black Sea territorial waters and exclusive economic zone. Over 10733 nautical miles and 1643 hours of survey effort, 289 sightings were recorded. Three cetacean species – bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus), common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) and harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) were observed. The most abundant species was the bottlenose dolphin - 618 individuals recorded in 120 sightings, followed by the common dolphin – 554 individuals in 101 sightings and 251 harbour porpoises in 68 sightings. The overall encounter rate was 3.18 sightings/100 nm. The distribution of cetaceans in the Bulgarian Black Sea area was associated with the ecological conditions such as prey dynamics, hydrology, ecosystem productivity, and also with some anthropogenic activities. Due to the absence of specialized surveys on cetaceans, the available sighting data help to elucidate the distribution of cetaceans, thus provide the scientific base for the designation of marine NATURA 2000 sites in the Bulgarian Black Sea for the conservation of marine mammals listed in Annex II of the Habitats Directive. KW - Keywords: Bulgarian Black Sea area KW - cetaceans KW - sightings KW - distribution CR - Bearzi, G. (2002) Interactions between cetaceans and fisheries Mediterranean CR - Sea. In: Cetaceans in the Mediterranean and Black Seas: State of Knowledge and Conservation Strategies (ed. G. Notarbartolo di Sciara), ACCOBAMS Secretariat, Monaco, pp. 78–97. Birkun A. (2002) Interactions between cetaceans and fisheries in the Black Sea. CR - In: Cetaceans of the Mediterranean and Black Seas: State of Knowledge and Conservation Strategies, (ed. G. Notarbartolo di Sciara), ACCOBAMS Secretariat, Monaco 10, 11 pp. Birkun, A. (2006) Cetaceans (Cetacea). In: The North-Western Black Sea: CR - Biology and Ecology, (ed. Y.P. Zaitsev), Naukova Dumka, Kiev, 703 pp. (in Russian). Birkun, A. (2008) The state of cetacean populations. In: State of Environment CR - Report 2001-2006/7, 2008-3 (ed. T. Oguz), Publication of the Commission on the Protection of the Black Sea against Pollution, Istanbul, pp. 365-395. CR - Boltachev, A.R. (2006) Trawl fishery and its effect on the bottom biocenoses in the Black Sea. Mar. Ecol. J. 3: 45-56(in Russian). CR - Dede, A, Tonay, A.M. (2010) Cetacean sightings in the Western Black Sea in Autumn 2007. JEPE 11(4): 1491-1494. CR - Mihaylov, K. (2011) Cetacean bycatches in turbot fisheries on the central coast of the Bulgarian Black Sea. Report of the 2nd Transversal Working Group on by-catch, Antalya, Turkey, 7-9 December 2011. General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean, Scientific Advisory Committee, 39 pp. CR - Nikolov, D. (1963) Catch and distribution of dolphin’s shoals in front of CR - Bulgarian coast. Proc. of Central Res. Inst. of Aqua. Fish. -BAS III: 183-197 (in Bulgarian). Raykov, V., Panayotova, M. (2012) Cetacean sightings off the Bulgarian Black CR - Sea coast over the period 2006-2010. JEPE 13(3A): 1824-1835. CR - Reeves, R., Notarbartolo di Sciara, G. (2006) The Status and Distribution of CR - Cetaceans in the Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea. IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation, Malaga, Spain. 137 pp. Stanev, C. (1996) Distribution and abundance of dolphins in Bulgarian marine area of the Black Sea. Proc. Inst. Fish. Varna XXIV: pp. 177-182 (in Bulgarian). CR - TDA (2007) Black Sea Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis. GEF Black Sea CR - Environmental Programme Publication, Istanbul, 269 pp. Todorova, V., Panayotova, M., Prodanov, B., Keremedchiev, S., Kotsev, I. (2013) Physical disturbance (8B02). In: National Report: Initial Assessment of CR - State of Marine Environment Regarding Art.8 of MSFD 2008/56/EC and NOOSMV, (eds., S. Moncheva,V. Todorova), vol.1. MOEW, pp. 245-258 (in Bulgarian). UR - https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/jbme/issue//121719 L1 - https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/103579 ER -