A study of trophic ecology of cetaceans and deep-ocean cephalopod ecology in the Azores, using a participatory science approach.
THE PROJECT
The goal of MONICEPH is to collect cetaceans' feces and to monitor cephalopod pieces found at the surface of the water in the Azores in order to study (i) the diet of sperm whales, Risso's dolphins, pilot whales and (ii) the ecology of deep-water cephalopods.
OUR METHOD
This study is conducted under a participatory science approach involving several whale watching companies on the Azores (Portugal)
Remains of cephalopods and whales' feces are collected during touristic activities.
Species identification of cephalopod from the remains and contained in whales' feces is performed using molecular tools (DNA metabarcoding)
Additional data collected includes GPS coordinates, time, date and the species, gender, number and behaviour of cetaceans observed in the area, as well as fluke ID.
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BLOG
PARTNERS
LICENCES
This work is performed under the licences AMP/2020/014, AMP/2022/007 from the Direção Regional dos Assuntos do Mar; 20/2022/DRCTD from the Direção Regional da
Ciência e Transição Digital; LMAS-DRPM/2023/07, LMAS-DRPM/2024/10 from the Direção Regional de Políticas Marítimas; CCIR-RAA/2023/36, CCIR-RAA/2024/45 from the Direção Regional da Ciência, Inovação e Desenvolvimento.
COPYRIGHT
Information provided by MONICEPH can be used under the license CC Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
More information: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
