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159
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Citations since 2017
Publications
Publications (48)
Knowledge of the distribution and residency of pelagic marine megafauna, particularly deep-diving species, is scarce due to their high mobility over difficult-to-access oceanic areas and long periods underwater. However, the threatened status of many of these species, such as the sperm whale Physeter macrocephalus, increases the need to obtain quan...
Knowledge of the role of individual associations has provided an insightful understanding of the structures of animal societies, especially in highly social mammals such as primates. Yet, this is unbalanced towards marine mammals, particularly to beaked whales, due to their elusive nature. In addition, information on the fundamental drivers of the...
The whale-watching industry can represent a critical anthropogenic stressor for the targeted populations. Identifying and characterizing the individual exposure to wildlife tourism in island-associated cetacean communities is especially relevant in small, remote oceanic regions relying on tourism. This study characterized the spatial and temporal v...
• The conservation of marine megafauna presents numerous difficulties owing to their high mobility over difficult-to-access oceanic areas that impairs the collection of basic, but essential, biological information.
• The Bryde's whale (Balaenoptera edeni) is one of the most elusive species of baleen whales, and although it is known to be a seasonal...
Species distributional estimates are an essential tool to improve and implement effective conservation and management measures. Nevertheless, obtaining accurate distributional estimates remains a challenge in many cases, especially when looking at the marine environment, mainly due to the species mobility and habitat dynamism. Ecosystems surroundin...
Nucleic acid-derived indices such as RNA/DNA ratios have been successfully applied as ecophysiological indicators to assess growth, nutritional condition and health status in marine organisms given that they provide a measure of tissue protein reserves, which is known to vary depending on changes in the environment. Yet, the use of these biochemica...
The common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) and the short-finned pilot whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus) occur year-round in the waters off the Madeira Archipelago, and present island-associated populations, yet no literature is found about their diet composition in this region. Bottlenose dolphins usually are opportunistic feeders inhabiti...
Aim
The knowledge of a species biogeographical patterns greatly enhances our understanding of geographical ecology, which can improve identifying key conservation needs. Yet, this knowledge is still scarce for many marine top predators. Here, we aim to analyse movement patterns and spatial structuring of a large predator, the short‐finned pilot wha...
Management and conservation issues are addressed through the identification of areas of particular importance, which requires the acquisition of baseline information on species distribution and dynamics. These types of data are particularly difficult to obtain at high resolution for large marine vertebrates like cetaceans, given that dedicated surv...
The whale-watching industry considerably increased worldwide in the last decades, leading the scientific community to urge for more studies and assessments. Indeed, several studies suggested that the cumulative effect of repeated exposure of cetacean populations to this disturbance can affect their behaviour, reproductive success and even mortality...
Laterally bent dorsal fins are rarely observed in free-ranging populations of cetaceans, contrary to captivity, where most killer whale Orcinus orca adult males have laterally collapsed fins. This topic has been poorly explored, and data/information on its occurrence and possible causes are limited. The present study: (i) undertakes a review of the...
Sightings of anomalously all-white (leucistic) or all-black (melanistic) individuals are rare in
nature, with information on hypo- and hyper-pigmented short-beaked common dolphins (Delphinus
delphis) and Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis) being scarce in the literature. This
study describes seven sightings of anomalously pigmented D. de...
The use of ferries as platforms of opportunity for cetacean monitoring is wide spreading from several years. This is a cost-effective and efficient system, allowing a regular and continuous effort, both in space and in time, through fixed transect surveys. In order to start a long-term monitoring programme in the ferry route between Madeira and Por...
Human population growth has resulted in an increase of marine traffic. This has been associated with wildlife disturbance and the effects are
expected to increase with continued traffic expansion. A particularly impacted group is cetaceans, known to play an important role in the sustainability
and regulation of marine ecosystems. An assessment of m...
Human population growth has resulted in an increase of marine traffic. This has been associated with wildlife disturbance and the effects are
expected to increase with continued traffic expansion. A particularly impacted group is cetaceans, known to play an important role in the sustainability
and regulation of marine ecosystems. An assessment of m...
Cetaceans’ research in the Madeira archipelago has been mainly restricted to the inshore waters (Freitas et al, 2004, Alves et al 2010, 2013). Consequently there is a lack of knowledge about cetaceans and of the interactions and impacts of human activities in the Madeira offshore waters. Therefore, between 2010 and 2012, within the CETACEOSMADEIRAI...
Impact assessment of whale-watching boats on cetaceans in Madeira Archipelago, Portugal
Whale-watching is a growing activity throughout the world, with relevance in the socioeconomy of many regions and involving an elevated number of tourists annually. However, this activity presents short and possibly long term impacts on the targeted cetaceans. In Madeira Region this activity is conducted mainly in an opportunistic
manner and is gui...
Projects
Project (1)
Most recently, (November 2015), the Madeira Institute for the Regional Development (IDR) has approved the operation 'Observatório Oceânico da Madeira-OOM' (M1420-01-0145-FEDER-000001). OOM operation is co-financed by the Madeira Regional Operational Programme (Madeira 14-20), under the Portugal 2020 strategy, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Anchoring its activities in the existing knowledge and expertise, the projects aims to develop research in Biodiversity; Fisheries and Aquaculture, Remote marine Animal Detection and Remote Sensing, Meteo-Oceanographic modelling and forecasting systems. The project has also some ‘core’ activities which includes leadership and management as well as Educational and Outreach activities. Data management and services are also part of the core activities. This operation is fully compatible with the RIS3-Madeira2020 as approved by the European Commission. The operation will reinforced the Research and Technological Development, and Innovation in the priority investment 1a. Apart from the Regional Operational funds (Madeira 14-20), this operation is also expected to promote the participation in other funded projects and research innitiatives, contributing to the internationalisation of the island-based research activities.
(see project diagram here and further details here: http://oom.arditi.pt).
