A preliminary study on marine top predators inhabiting Gökçeada Island, the North Aegean Sea

Marine top predators, such as sharks, teleosts and cetaceans, are great indicators of a healthy ecosystem. The primary goal of this paper is to fill the knowledge gaps on top predators in Gökçeada Island located in the North Aegean Sea. Data on marine top predators were collected through Local Ecolo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of the Black Sea/Mediterranean environment Vol. 27; no. 1; p. 34
Main Authors Kesici, Nur Bikem, Dalyan, Cem, Gönülal, Onur, Akkaya, Aylin, Lyne, Patrick, Tüzün, Suna, Yıldırım, Belen
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Istambul Turkish Marine Research Foundation 01.01.2021
Subjects
Carcharodon carcharias
Delphinus delphis
Divers
Fishers
Isurus oxyrinchus
Marine fishes
Predators
Sharks
Social media
Surveys
Thunnus thynnus
Work platforms
Xiphias gladius
Aegean Sea
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Summary:Marine top predators, such as sharks, teleosts and cetaceans, are great indicators of a healthy ecosystem. The primary goal of this paper is to fill the knowledge gaps on top predators in Gökçeada Island located in the North Aegean Sea. Data on marine top predators were collected through Local Ecological Knowledge. Besides, visual and acoustic field surveys were carried out in the summer and autumn of 2019 and winter of 2020. According to the results of the current study, a total of 464 individuals were reported via social media platforms and questionnaires applied to stakeholders as fishermen, divers and harpooners. Delphinus delphis Linnaeus, 1758, Tursiops truncatus (Montagu, 1821) and Physeter macrocephalus Linnaeus, 1758 were detected during approximately 15 hours of acoustic recording. The records of Carcharodon carcharias (Linnaeus, 1758), Isurus oxyrinchus Rafinesque, 1810, Xiphias gladius Linnaeus, 1758, Thunnus thynnus (Linnaeus, 1758), D. delphis, Stenella coeruleoalba (Meyen, 1833), T. truncatus, Grampus griseus (Cuvier, 1812), P. macrocephalus, Ziphius cavirostris (Cuvier, 1823), Monachus monachus (Hermann, 1779) were listed in this study. A total of 358 individuals of X. gladius and T. thynnus were reported between the years 2017-2020, being the most abundant top predators in the area.
ISSN:1304-9550