On June 8th, we carried out the first survey of the year in the area of Kalamos. It felt good to navigate these waters, where I had my first dolphin sighting ten years ago, after four years without personally doing any survey in this area.
However, no dolphins were spotted across more than 3 hours of survey under good sea state conditions. This was no surprise, considering the negative dolphin population trends that we have been describing over the years.
During the survey, countless anecdotes about the numerous sightings I had in these crystal-clear waters came to mind. It is hard to believe that an area that was so full of marine life just a decade ago has become such a desert. Surveying the area of Kalamos will help us keep in mind that bottlenose dolphin abundance in the Amvrakikos Gulf cannot be given for granted. Dolphins can and sometimes do decline in relatively short periods of time, and we must ensure that those we are studying in the Gulf won’t face the kind of anthropogenic impact that affected the area of Kalamos, former common dolphin paradise.
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