Inês Gomes

In 2011, several non-governmental and government agencies established the Kenya Marine Mammal Network (KMMN) to provide a platform for the consistent collection of data on marine mammals along the Kenyan coast, identify areas of importance and engage marine users and the general public in marine mammal conservation. Prior to the KMMN, relatively li...

The Kenya Marine Mammal Network (KMMN) is a collective of scientists, fishermen, divers, students, managers, conservationists and sea lovers who regularly report sightings and strandings of marine mammals in Kenya. It has identified 21 different species of marine mammals and contributed to the identification and selection of important areas for mar...

Until recently, the abundance and distribution of marine mammals in Kenya coastal waters was not well understood. Prior to 2011, research was mostly limited to a wide coastal aerial survey in 1996 conducted by the Kenya Wildlife Service, which reported the presence of 8 species of dolphin and whale. In 2011, in order to fill the data gaps, Global V...

The valuation of nature is an inbuilt component of validating environmental management decisions and an important research field for different disciplines related to conservation, economy and ethics. Here, biodiversity was valued using an ecological approach based on the intrinsic value incorporated in biodiversity per se, regardless of any human a...

Marine larval dispersal is a complex biophysical process that depends on the effects of species biology and oceanography, leading to logistical difficulties in estimating connectivity among populations of marine animals with biphasic life cycles. To address this challenge, the application of multiple methodological approaches has been advocated, in...

Due to the growth of nature-based tourism worldwide, behavioural studies are needed to assess the impact of this industry on wildlife populations and understand their short-term effect. Tourism impact on dolphin populations remain poorly documented in developing countries. This study investigates the effects of nature-based tourism on the behaviour...

Knowledge of connectivity pathways in the marine environment is crucial for understanding the spatial structure of populations and for developing appropriate monitoring and management strategies. Here, we used the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis as a model species to investigate connectivity patterns within the Berlengas and Arrábida Marine Protec...

Understanding connectivity in the marine environment is crucial to describe population dynamics and to develop spatial management strategies. We used the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis as a model-species to investigate connectivity patterns within two Portuguese Marine Protected Areas (Berlengas and Arrábida MPAs) along the central Portuguese wes...

Innovative strategies are needed to escape the social‐ecological poverty that so frequently emerges from persistent overfishing of coral reef resources. This study focuses on fishing gear selectivity and its potential to increase ecosystem health and fisheries productivity without compromising the catch of profitable species. An investigation into...

These results suggest that Kisite-Mpunguti MPA represents an important area that seemingly encompasses habitat features of ecological and behavioral importance to several cetacean species. Our ongoing research is likely to contribute further insights (e.g. spatio-temporal patterns of habitat use) directly applicable to the development and implement...