black sea red data book - Department of Biology

cases of dolphins entangled in pelagic trawls are also unusual. Few animals were
described to have distinct traumatic injuries. The level of organochlorine residues in
Delphinus blubber is lower than in Black Sea harbour porpoises and bottlenose
dolphins. The decline in anchovy and sprat abundance (result of overfishing and
accidental introduction of the ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi) could be a reason for the
problems in dolphin nutrition.
Conservation measures taken. The Common dolphin is listed in the IUCN Red
Data Book and Red Data Book of Ukraine, and all six Black Sea states have stopped
commercial hunting in their waters: Turkey in 1983, other countries since 1966.
Together with other cetacean species in the region it is protected by the Berne and
Bonn conventions, CITES and ACCOBAMS. The UNEP Marine Mammal Action
Plan and IUCN/SSC Action Plan stress that the Black Sea population is at risk. Some
conservation measures are foreseen in the Strategic Action Plan for the Rehabilitation
and Protection of the Black Sea (Paragraph 62).
Conservation measures proposed. Adoption of ACCOBAMS by Black Sea
countries; establishment of a regional program for marine mammals research and
conservation, including a monitoring study on Common dolphin population.
References
Arsenyev, V. A., 1980. Atlas morskikh mlekopitayushchikh SSSR. (Atlas of Marine
Mammals of the USSR). Moscow, Pishchevaya Promyshlennost: 183 pp. (in
Russian).
Birkun, A. A. (Jr), S. V. Krivokhizhin, A. B. Shvatsky etal., 1992. Present status and
future of Black Sea dolphins. In: European research on cetaceans 6 (Ed. P. G. H.
Evans): Proc. 6th Annual Conf. Europ. Cetacean Soc, San Remo, Italy, 20-22
February. Cambridge, ECS: 47-53.
Birkun, Jr., A. A. & S. V. Krivokhizhin, 1996. Sovremennoye sostoyaniye i prichiny
ugneteniya populyatziy chernomorskikh del'finov. Soobshcheniye 1 i 2.
(Contemporary life conditions of Black Sea cetacean populations and the causes of
their suppression. Parts 1 and 2). Vestnik. Zool.: 36-42; 53-59 (in Russian).
Geptner, V. G., K. K. Chapsky, V. A. Arsenyev & V. E. Sokolov, 1976.
Mlekopitayushchiye Sovetskogo Soyuza. Tom 2. Chast' 3. Lastonogiye i zubatye kity.
(Mammals of the Soviet Union. Vol.2. Part 3. Pinnipeds and Toothed Whales).
Moscow, Vysshaya Shkola: 718 pp. (in Russian).
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