Dolphins, Whales and Porpoises: 2002-2010 Conservation - IUCN

population. Therefore, no exceptions should be allowed
to the national law that prohibits dolphin
captures (IWC 2001a).
� Because of concern about the habitat degradation and
physical displacement of dolphins and their prey
caused by large coal-carrying ships, alternative means
of coal transport, such as smaller, less destructive
barges, should be employed.
Irrawaddy dolphins in Malampaya
Sound, Philippines
History: A geographically isolated population of Irrawaddy
dolphins was recently discovered at the head of Malampaya
Sound, Palawan, Philippines (Dolar et al. 2002). Linetransect
surveys conducted in 2001, as part of the WWF-
Philippines Malampaya Sound Ecological Studies Project,
estimated that the total population consists of 77 individuals
(CV 27.4%) confined to a 133km 2 area in the inner sound
(Smith, unpublished data). Between February and August
2001, researchers from the same project confirmed that two
dolphins were accidentally killed in bottom-set nylon gillnets
used to catch crabs (called matang quatro nets locally).
They also received reports from local fishermen that as
many as three additional dolphins were killed in these nets
during the same period. These findings strongly suggest that
the Irrawaddy dolphin population in Malampaya Sound is in
immediate danger of extinction due to low numbers, limited
range, and high mortality. This is the only known population
of the species in the Philippines, and the nearest area where
another population of this coastal and riverine species is
known to occur is in northern Borneo, some 550km to the
south.
Fishermen in Malampaya Sound are generally poor, and
the crab fishery provides substantial employment and income
in an economically depressed region. This fishery
requires little monetary investment and is therefore an attractive
local employment option. It would be inadvisable to
prohibit this fishing technique without providing alternatives
that ensure an equal or greater income to the fishermen.
Conservation recommendations: Immediate action is
needed to prevent the extirpation of Irrawaddy dolphins
from Malampaya Sound. The CSG therefore recommends
that dolphin mortality in the crab fishery be eliminated or at
least drastically reduced. Similar to the situation of the
vaquita, this will require action on the socio-economic front
as well as assistance from cetacean and fishery scientists.
The CSG therefore strongly urges that socio-economic
alternatives be developed to help promote the conservation
goal of reducing entanglement in matang quatro gillnets. In
addition, we emphasize the need for long-term monitoring
of dolphin abundance and mortality in Malampaya Sound
(IWC 2001a).
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Short-beaked common dolphins in the
Mediterranean Sea
History: Historical literature, photographic documentation,
and osteological collections indicate that the short-beaked
common dolphin was once abundant in much of the
Mediterranean Sea (Figure 37). However, the species has
experienced a dramatic decline in numbers during the last
few decades, and has almost completely disappeared from
large portions of its former range, particularly in the central
Mediterranean Sea (UNEP/IUCN 1994; Forcada and
Hammond 1998). There is no overall abundance estimate
for short-beaked common dolphins in the Mediterranean
Sea. Line-transect surveys in 1991 and 1992 in the western
basin found them to be abundant only in the Alboran Sea
between southern Spain and Morocco (approx. 15,000 individuals
in the south-western stratum)(Forcada 1995), while
sighting frequencies in other western Mediterranean areas
were very low (Forcada 1995; Forcada and Hammond
1998). Genetic studies indicate significant divergence between
Mediterranean and Atlantic populations; genetic exchange
seems to be limited to the Alboran Sea, possibly due
to local oceanographic features (Natoli in press). There is
also no evidence of significant movement through the narrow
Dardanelles Strait between the Aegean and Marmara
Seas. Despite growing interest in cetacean conservation, and
the recent implementation of regional treaties and agreements
(i.e., the Barcelona Convention Protocol on Specially
Figure 37. Short-beaked common dolphins, mother and
calf, in the eastern Ionian Sea. The marked decline in
abundance of common dolphins in the Mediterranean Sea
is a conservation challenge. Immediate measures are
needed to allow the species to recover, yet the causes of
its decline in this region are not well understood.
Photo: Tethys Research Institute/Elena Politi.