[ad_1]
Renexia, the construction company, had already commissioned a study before work to assess the impact of the works – for example that of the pile-driving ships, in charge of setting the structures to the seabed. But now that the plant is in operation (and will remain operational for at least twenty-five years), the company intends to start a three-year monitoring. To do this, she has offered a scholarship won by Serena Gatto, a young graduate in marine biology who will conduct the research.
Gatto discussed in March a thesis on noise pollution in the abyss. Now she, from the deep northeast she – she is Friulian, of Venetian origins – she will move to the Apulian city.
“This is the first study to monitor the impact of this type of structures, and for this we are particularly grateful to the company that financed it.”Says the researcher. “We want to find out if the vibrations produced by wind turbines can influence the sound production of cetaceans, and therefore evaluate their impact on mammals.“.
Supporting Gatto is the Jonian Dolphin Conservation, a local organization committed to the protection of dolphins and cetaceans in general. “They asked me to start – the researcher continued: they had a great deal of material collected over the course of ten years, but it needed to be analyzed. So I learned to sample the sounds of the sea: then I analyze the spectrogram, that is the representation of intensity as a function of time and frequency“. By cataloging the data, we will arrive at evaluate the impact of the blades, in an analysis necessary for any mitigation interventions. Furthermore, the idea is to define “good practices” to be used in the Mediterranean for offshore plants.
The area of the Gulf of Taranto has always been very busy. To the commercial traffic are added the exercises of the Navy, which has a base here, and uses the canyon that runs from Italy to Greece for submarine exercises. “We need to find a meeting point between the needs of man and those of the ecosystem by creating a blue oasis”Says Gatto. The difference compared to a marine protected area? “In this case, navigation is not prohibited but there is a set of protection rules to follow“. A protection that must be supranational: “From the fins of sperm whales, a sort of identity card of the species, it was realized that the same specimens spend one season in Italy and the other near the Hellenic territory: therefore, broad agreements are needed to achieve conservation objectives.“.
Citizen science
But sea trips are expensive, and a small organization struggles to bear the costs, starting with those of fuel. For this reason, the Jonian Dolphin Conservation finances them through activities of citizen science. “Through the project Researcher for a day we involve tourists, schools and local people in our activities”Says Carmelo Fanizza, operational director of the association. “We have two catamarans on which it is possible to embark every day: who gets on, helps our biologists to collect data which are then analyzed: coordinates, species sighted, number of specimens, behavior“. There are, then, more complex activities:”For example, we collect acoustic data with hydrophones and skin samples via skin scrub. This allows us to count on a constant form of financing“. For those who get on the boat, however, the ticket allows you to try an interesting experience and able, why not, to discover hidden passions. “Me too – Cat reveals – I was struck by a boat trip when I was a child“.
.
[ad_2]
Source link
