News And Updates

by Adam Millington,
(U.K)
Researcher in Zoology
on December 9th, 2009

An injured adult cormorant was found near the dam of the Myrsonas  River in Ikaria. The cormorant was roosting low on the rocks in the gorge below the dam wall. It was clearly evident the bird was injured or unwell, the bird was unresponsive to my presence and made no attempt to flee on my approach. The location of…

by Stephanie Barnicoat,
(U.K)
Researcher in Marine Biology
on November 26th, 2009

The Aegean Sea is home to many cetaceans including the endangered Sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) during their migration patterns. I have been helping out with Marine mammal surveys which take place on the boat where I was extremely lucky to be part of a team that found sperm whales.

To locate the sperm whales we used a hydrophone, which can detect…

by Wanda Mills,
(U.K)
Researcher in Marine Science and Pollution
on November 18th, 2009

Since I started volunteering with Archipelagos IMERAS, I have been involved in a number of projects. For example, I have actively been collecting data for fisheries; I have collected Zooplankton data from Marthokampos bay; and worked with the hydrographic survey team from Cardiff University to map the Posidonia oceanica (Seagrass) beds during their fieldtrip. I have also designed two plastic…

Lepidochronological analysis is a technique that can be used to investigate past-changes in the near-shore environment. Posidonia Oceanica scales show cyclical variation in thickness, according to their insertion rank along the rhizome. These cyclical variations have a chronological significance with each cycle corresponding to one year period. This phenomena appears to resemble variation observed in the tree rings thickness. The…

In the Mediterranean sea, a great deal of research has been dedicated to Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile, an endemic marine magnoliophyta that constitutes a key species. Human activities can disturb the stability and the conservation of coastal marine environment. Posidonia oceanica seems to be a reliable bioindicator, according to: (i) their sensitivity to disturbances, as demonstrated by a number of reports of meadow…

by Francesca Bombara,
(Italy)
Researcher in Marine Biology
on October 22nd, 2009

Mariculture is a specialized branch of aquaculture involving the cultivation of marine organisms for food and other products in the open ocean, an enclosed section of the ocean, or in tanks, ponds or raceways which are filled with seawater. An example of the latter is the farming of marine fish, including finfish and shellfish e.g.prawns, or oysters and seaweed in…

I will shortly be coming to the end of my placement so currently I’m trying to finish off and pass on various pieces of work.

Since my last blog I have been working on a couple of new things along with the work in progress. I have started making ‘vodcasts’ (video podcasts) to go with the relevant written news articles on…

Since arriving on the island I have learned over 100 fish species and an additional 100 invertebrate species common to the Aegean, which has allowed me to take part in the ongoing small scale fisheries project currently being carried out by several members of the Archipelagos team. This involves going to the harbour in the morning in time for the…

At the base in Ormos Marathokampos on Samos Island, a small scale project has been set up to collect information on fisheries catch in the local area.  The original researchers for this project have finished their placements, so a team that are still located at the base are continuing the data collection, in which I am included.  This…

by Stephanie Barnicoat,
(U.K)
Researcher in Marine Biology
on October 5th, 2009

Oil tanker, over 110m in length (www.marinetraffic.co.uk)

Over 60,000 merchant ships will travel around the Aegean sea, where 6,000 of these ships are oil tankers carrying up to 100-200 thousand tonnes of heavy oil. The Aegean Sea is seen as a marine root as goods and items need to be transported to the Islands throughout the Mediterranean. For this reason the…