Between the end of September and the beginning of October, three meetings with the city’s “Seafarers” were held in the Port of Catania area. The series of seminars was organized by the Marecamp association together with the University of Catania, as part of WP5 of the SEA MARVEL project. The first meeting was held on 25 September at the Port Authority of Catania, with the support of the Coast Guard; the second, on 28 September at the NIC Nautical Club; finally, the last one took place at the port detachment of the Firefighters command of Catania, on 3 October.
The three workshops addressed the same issues and saw a strong and heartfelt involvement from its participants. In each event, the introduction was carried out to Dario Garofalo, president of the Marecamp Association which has been operating in the Gulf of Catania for over a decade carrying out research, training and dissemination activities on the conservation of cetaceans; the first speech was by Clara Monaco, coordinator of the research activities of the INTERREG V-A Italy-Malta project “SEA MARVEL – Save, Enhance, Admire Marine Versatile Life” from the University of Catania, who presented the objectives and the key actions of the project. She then focused on the importance of the contribution and action of the “Sentinels of the Sea”, in carrying out the observation and collection of data on the presence and distribution of various marine species, in particular the vulnerable ones. The preliminary results of the project were also shown, relating to the scientific work of marine monitoring, and the participatory activities in the field with various stakeholders.
Image 1 Clara Monaco during her speech, at the NIC Nautical Club.
Subsequently, Carla Tumino, marine biologist of the Marecamp Association, took the floor, first tackling the issue of “marine litter”, the so-called floating waste, and plastic at sea. Such waste lead to consequences such as the entanglement of species, especially cetaceans and sea turtles, and the ingestion of macro-fragments or micro plastics that can cause their death. She subsequently defined the good practices to be adopted at sea, in favour of sustainable actions. The focus then shifted to vulnerable marine species in the Mediterranean: currently, all its marine mammals, sea turtles, more than 30 species of birds and over 100 species of cartilaginous fish. Vulnerable species in a critical condition, for example if its number is decreasing and if the severe anthropic impact is acting on it, such as intense naval traffic or floating waste. This second remark ended with directives on how to report any sightings of waste and vulnerable species through the SEA MARVEL website, in the specific section “Be a Sentinel of the Sea”.
Image 2 The second speech by Carla Tumino, at the Port Authority of Catania.
Finally, Stefano Floridia took the floor as a marine biologist, also representing the Marecamp Association. He first described the various species of cetaceans of the Mediterranean, which can also be spotted in the Gulf of Catania: fin whale, cachalot, beaked whale, and bottlenose dolphin, Risso’s dolphin, pilot whale, striped dolphin and common dolphin; in particular, how to recognize and distinguish them, through a morphological and behavioural description. Furthermore, he illustrated how it is right to act once spotted at sea, defining the code of good conduct for their observation during navigation. Also on the Marecamp website there is an interactive form with pictures. Through this forum, it is possible to report the presence of cetaceans and turtles, whose sightings are thus collected in the association’s database. The core of his remarks was the issue of stranding, and its different types and causes; the attention then shifted to the approach to be adopted in the event of a stranding, and to the guidelines to follow during the rescue of cetaceans at risk.
Figura 3 Il dott. Stefano Floridia durante l’ultimo intervento, presso il Distaccamento portuale del comando dei VV.F. di Catania.
At the end of the last intervention, the seafarer’s toolkit was distributed to all participants, including information materials and guides for the recognition of the various species.
Image 4 The participants read the seafarer’s toolkit at the end of the seminar.
This series of meetings, held at the end of the summer, during information and environmental awareness activities with seafarers (yachters, sailors, professional and sports fishermen, cruise passengers), aimed at disseminating the objectives of SEA MARVEL and the good practices in favor of sustainable actions to be carried out also by different types of workers at sea. It was also an opportunity to talk about how the community of the project’s “Sentinels of the Sea” is expanding, and to involve even more actively the groups of sailors who participated in these seminars, who, together with the fishermen, are the real actors living the sea every day, and can personally support marine biodiversity. The collaboration with the sentinels will continue even after the end of the project, cooperating in the collection of useful data for the conservation of local species and habitats in the project areas.
We thank Admiral Ranieri, Captain Messina, and Captain Ridolfo, Port Authority, for their welcome and support in organizing the seminars; the President Sergio Petrina, at the NIC; and Catania’s Firefighters Detachment Manager Maurizio Vaccarella.
Figura 5 I team Marecamp e SEA MARVEL con la Guardia Costiera, al termine dell’incontro del 25 settembre.
Figura 6 I team Marecamp e SEA MARVEL con il Circolo Nautico NIC il 28 settembre.
Figura 7 I team Marecamp e SEA MARVEL con i Vigili del Fuoco del Distaccamento portuale, al termine dell’ultimo seminario del 3 ottobre.
