Sergi Pérez-Jorge

• PhD Marine Science
• PostDoc Position at Institute of Marine Research, Azores, Portugal

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...

Along the East African coast, marine top predators are facing an increasing number of anthropogenic threats which requires the implementation of effective and urgent conservation measures to protect essential habitats. Understanding the role that habitat features play on the marine top predator' distribution and abundance is a crucial step to evalu...

Along the East African coast, marine top predators are facing an increasing number of anthropogenic threats which requires the implementation of urgent and effective conservation measures. However, very modest scientific research has been conducted on cetaceans in this area and little information is available on the baseline ecology of these specie...

One of FutureMARES’ overarching goals is to provide science-based advice on the design and implementation of Nature-based Solutions and sustainable Nature-inclusive Harvesting for the marine environment. To help achieve that goal, the project set up a Platform for Knowledge Needs, enabling decision makers to request the development of knowledge pro...

Determining how animals allocate energy, and how external factors influence this allocation, is crucial to understand species' life history requirements and response to disturbance. This response is driven in part by individuals' energy balance, prey characteristics, foraging behaviour and energy required for essential functions. We developed a bio...

Background High-resolution sound and movement recording tags offer unprecedented insights into the fine-scale foraging behaviour of cetaceans, especially echolocating odontocetes, enabling the estimation of a series of foraging metrics. However, these tags are expensive, making them inaccessible to most researchers. Time-Depth Recorders (TDRs), whi...

This comprehensive species-specific chapter covers all aspects of the mammalian biology, including paleontology, physiology, genetics, reproduction and development, ecology, habitat, diet, mortality, and behavior. The economic significance and management of mammals and future challenges for research and conservation are addressed as well. The chapt...

Mesopelagic organisms play a crucial role in marine food webs, channelling energy across the predator-prey network and connecting depth strata through their diel vertical migrations. the information available to assess mesopelagic feeding interactions and energy transfer has increased substantially in recent years, owing to the growing interest and...

Disturbance from whale watching can induce a wide range of behavioral responses in cetaceans, some of which can affect their energetic balance and, ultimately, their long-term fitness. However, assessing disturbance effects on deep-diving cetaceans remains challenging, as the majority of their activities occurs underwater and are difficult to monit...

Efficient use of the energy budget is of fundamental importance for long-distance migrants, which must cope with seasonal energy demands and environmental conditions. Time-activity budgets can provide information on how animals balance energy use and acquisition over their annual cycle, and on the costs and benefits of different migratory strategie...

Animals use varied acoustic signals that play critical roles in their lives. Understanding the function of these signals may inform about key life history processes relevant for conservation. In the case of fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus), that produce different call types associated with different behaviours, several hypotheses have emerged reg...

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 project MISTIC SEAS I selected common species and Management Units (MUs) in European Macaronesia islands (Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands) and defined thresholds and environmental targets to help determine the Good Environmental Status (GES) of this MUs following the requirements of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). MISTIC...

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 four currently recognised species of Sousa are all threatened on the IUCN Red List. To date they have not been included in any of the available software platforms that have been developed for the automated matching of cetaceans from photo-ID data. Because of their unique morphology, existing algorithms are unlikely to be successful and new algo...

Bathymetric proxies tend to indicate the relationships between the distribution of cetaceans and the seafloor in species distribution models (SDMs). Usually, seafloor features are described arbitrary to explain these relationships. Currently, a global seafloor geomorphic features dataset is available, with an objective identification and full repre...

Aim Understanding the environmental drivers of movement and habitat use of highly migratory marine species is crucial to implement appropriate management and conservation measures. However, this requires quantitative information on their spatial and temporal presence, which is limited in the high seas. Here, we aimed to gain insights of the essenti...

Ringnet fishing began in the early 20th century and is practised worldwide, mainly to target nearshore pelagic species. The method was introduced to Kenya’s coastal waters by migrant fishers from Tanzania. However, the impacts of this fishing gear remain poorly assessed. We assessed the spatial distribution of ringnet fishing effort and its possibl...

The importance of seamounts as foraging hotspots for cetaceans depends on interactions between ocean flow and topographical features that concentrate prey. However, the oceanographic processes driving these aggregations are still unclear. Here, we analyzed two months of passive acoustic recordings from two remote seamounts in the Northeast Atlantic...

Capture-mark-recapture methods have been extensively used to estimate abundance, demography, and life history parameters of populations of several taxa. However, the high mobility of many species means that dedicated surveys are logistically complicated and expensive. Use of opportunis-tic data may be an alternative, if modeling takes into account...

This document, the MRR, includes the description of the criteria and species assessed, along with compilation of the results obtained during the implementation of the pilot monitoring programmes under the MSFD for marine birds, mammals and turtles in the three Macaronesian archipelagos (Azores, Madeira and Canary Islands) but also from other additi...

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...

Information on abundance and demography is essential to assess the status of populations, inform conservation and management measures and evaluate effectiveness of those measures. Application of capture-mark-recapture (CMR) methods to photo-identification data has been extensively used to estimate abundance and life history parameters of cetacean p...

In developing regions, coastal communities are particularly dependent on small-scale fisheries for food security and income. However, information on the scale and impacts of small-scale fisheries on coastal marine ecosystems are frequently lacking. Large marine vertebrates (marine mammals, sea turtles and chondrichthyans) are often among the first...

El turismo de observación de cetáceos está al alza a lo largo y ancho del planeta. Al sur de Kenia, las comunidades próximas al Área Marina Protegida de Kisite-Mpunguti se benefician de esta actividad, cuyo impacto en las poblaciones de delfines es objeto de seguimiento conjunto entre autoridades y conservacionistas

Area encompassed by the MPA is certainly insufficient to satisfy the spatial requirements for the species. Tourism exposure increased the probability of dolphins seasonally emigrating from the study area. Important to integrate these robust evidences on an adaptive managment framework

The results indicate that Malindi - Watamu National Marine Reserve is an important area for cetaceans. This first study in Kenya using land based surveys highlights opportunities to collect data on migratory humpback whales along the Kenya coast. Consistent and continuous research is required to gain a greater knowledge of these species distributio...

We tested the possibility of measuring proges-terone levels in bubbler samples collected from free-rang-ing live bottlenose dolphins (n = 11) and long-Wnned pilot whales (n = 2) as a tool to evaluate the pregnancy status of individuals. Samples were collected during January 2004 and September–October 2005 in the Strait of Gibraltar and Gulf of Cadi...

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...

The population of S. chinensis is potentially vulnerable to threats from anthropogenic activities, including entanglement in nets and boat strikes, with scars of injuries evident on four individuals (Fig.4). This species rarely utilises the KMMPA and therefore likely to be subject to increased competition for food resources. Further research into r...

The KMMPA and surrounding waters represent an important year-round habitat for Hawksbill and Green turtles, with mating, feeding and resting behaviours being observed. More research into habitat associations will assist in best protecting critical areas. The addition of community education and awareness programmes will play an important role in con...

P>Long-finned pilot whales in the Strait of Gibraltar are distributed over the main shipping routes. This exposes them to risks of collisions and probable acoustic and physical disturbance. This species is also the target of whale-watching operations. The aim of this study was to estimate the annual population size, survival rate, and population gr...

The Strait of Gibraltar is inhabited by around 216 pilot whales, which are present all year round, and nothing is known about their social structure. The aim of this study is to analyse the inter-individual association patterns within this pilot whales community to (1) provide an insight on their long-term social system and (2) to assess the relati...

The Strait of Gibraltar is inhabited throughout the year by a group of pilot whales (Globicephala melas), but their spatial distribution varies between Summer and Autumn. In this paper, we have used carbon (13C/12C) and nitrogen (15N/14N) stable isotope signatures to investigate the differences in diet amongst seasons, sex and stable social units....