In the Mediterranean basin 23 species of cetaceans are known: 11 are
regular and live, breed and feed and 12 are irregular, rare or accidental.
These species are common in all the oceans of the globe (cosmopolitan
species) and therefore none of them is endemic. In the inshore coastal
waters of the Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni National Park, five
of the 23 Mediterranean species are regularly sighted; they are: one species
of Mysticeti, the fin whale Balaenoptera physalus (Linnaeus, 1758)
(family Balaenopteridae) and four species of Odontoceti, including the
sperm whale Physeter microcephalus Linnaeus, 1758 (= P. catodon) (Family
Physeteridae), the striped dolphin Stenella coeruleoalba (Meyen, 1833), the
Common bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus (Montagu, 1821) and the
Risso’s dolphin Grampus griseus (G. Cuvier, 1812), (the last three species
belonging to the family Delphinidae). A sixth species has recently been
registered for the Park boundaries, the Dwarf Sperm Whale, Kogia sima
(Owen, 1866), based on finding of a dead-stranded individual within the
study area.
Regarding the cetofauna of the coastal waters of the Gulf of Salerno,
there are other two records and they are: the long-finned pilot whale
Globicephala melas (Traill, 1809) and the Common Minke whale Balaenoptera
acutorostrata Lacépède, 1804 (Mysticeti: Balaenopteridae). The
former species is documented exclusively by bibliographical and museal
data. The latter species is considered as “irregular” in Mediterranean Sea
since there is no certainty that it reproduces, but it is possible that it
attends this marine area for some periods of the year.
This guide begins with the evolutionary history of Cetaceans. The following
chapters are devoted to the general characteristics and biology of
these animals, to the area of study and research methodology.
It was considered interesting to include also a chapter with a brief historical
overview on Cetacean researches in Campania. Then, a presentation
is given for each of the species found in the Park boundaries and
neighbouring, including notes on taxonomy, general description and diagnosis,
notes on biology and ecology, general and local distribution, status
and conservation, and some curiosities in the relationship with the man.
In total the occurrence of eight species was herein documented in the
survey area representing approximately the 73% of the estimated fauna
of Campania Region (11 species) and about the 47% of the estimated
Italian cetofauna (17 species: eight regular, four “irregular” and five occasional).
The guide concludes with two chapters on recent laboratory researches
on specimens from Cetofauna inhabiting coastal waters of the Cilento,
Vallo di Diano and Alburni National Park. The first research concerns the
preliminary results of a study on age determination of individuals stranded
along the Cilento coast by counting the incremental growth lines observed
in the tooth sections. The other research concerns molecular analysis to
determine the origins of the stranded individuals.
Cetaceans are protected at international level by CITES (Appendices
I and II), by the Habitats Directive (Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21
May 1992) on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and
flora (annex II and IV), and a lot of species are mentioned on the IUCN
Red List of Threatened Species. At European level some species are protected
by the “Barcelona Convention” on the Protection of the Marine Environment
and the Mediterranean Coast (and its new Application Protocol
relative to Special Protection Zones and the Biological Diversity in the
Mediterranean adopted on 1995), the “Bonn Convention” on the Conservation
of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, the “Bern Convention” relative
to the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats, and
by the Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans in the Black Sea Mediterranean
Sea and Contiguous Atlantic Area (ACCOBAMS). For these
reasons the Cetaceans are protected by special laws in many countries
