Monitoring Winter and Summer Abundance of Cetaceans in the Pelagos Sanctuary (Northwestern Mediterranean Sea) Through Aerial Surveys

Systematic long-term monitoring of abundance is essential to inform conservation measures and evaluate their effectiveness. To instigate such work in the Pelagos Sanctuary in the Mediterranean, two aerial surveys were conducted in winter and summer 2009. A total of 467 (131 in winter, 336 in summer) sightings of 7 species was made. Sample sizes were sufficient to estimate abundance of fin whales in summer (148; 95% CI = 87–254) and striped dolphins in winter (19,462; 95% CI = 12 939–29 273) and in summer (38 488; 95% CI = 27 447–53 968). Numbers of animals within the Sanctuary are significantly higher in summer, when human activities and thus potential population level impacts are highest. Comparisons with data from past shipboard surveys suggest an appreciable decrease in fin whales within the Sanctuary area and an appreciable increase in striped dolphins. Aerial surveys proved to be more efficient than ship surveys, allowing more robust estimates, with smaller CIs and CVs. These results provide essential baseline data for this marine protected area and continued regular surveys will allow the effectiveness of the MPA in terms of cetacean conservation to be evaluated and inform future management measures. The collected data may also be crucial in assessing whether ship strikes, one of the main causes of death for fin whales in the Mediterranean, are affecting the Mediterranean population

An intercalibration study of the use of 4-Methyumbelliferyl-ß-D-glucuronide for the specific enumeration of Escherichia coli in seawater and marine sediments.

A fluorogenic assay for the specific detection of Escherichia coli on the basis of its β-glucuronidase activity (MUG method) was applied to seawater and marine sediments with different contamination levels. The study was carried out in three Mediterranean areas (Malaga-Spain, Nice-France and Palermo-Sicily), using strictly standardized methods (membrane filtration), media (mFC and Chapman-TTC agars) and reagents, to evaluate statistically its sensitivity and specificity according to the origin and contamination of samples, the workers performing the tests and the selected culture media. The results obtained indicate that the MUG method is highly specific (94.5%) and sensitive (90.8%) for the detection of E.coli in marine samples. Its reliability however closely depends on the macroscopic differentiation of colonies typical of the species on agar plates, and on the number of colonies on the filters. Of the 798 typical colonies with a positive MUG reaction, more than 95.5% were identified as E.coli, and the false-positive results mainly corresponded to Citrobacter freudii (1.75%) and Shigella spp. (1.63%). Only 0.56% of total isolates (14.9% of non-typical MUG negative isolates) were confirmed as E. coli from non- typical colonies on both selective media with a negative MUG reaction (false-negative). It was concluded that the MUG method, in conjunction with the membrane filtration technique using mFC agar is faster, easier and cheaper than the standard procedure for the examination of seawater and sediment sample