Studies on the ecology and conservation status of short-beaked common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) and common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in the Mediterranean Sea

Acknowledgements

Above all, I would like to thank Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara, who inspired my work since the beginning and opened my third eye to a conservation vision. Elena Politi has always been by my side - offering continual support that fuelled my research engine over the years. My gratitude also goes to Bernd Würsig, who took me seriously at a time when I was little more than a nerd determined to study dolphins. Prof. David G. Senn offered me the privilege of completing my doctoral studies without having to give up on my other commitments and passions. Last but not least, my girlfriend Silvia made me a happy person and gave me the extra strength, motivation and love necessary to get things done.

Being based on research conducted in several Mediterranean areas over a time span of 16 years, the evidence provided here is clearly the result of team work rather than being the accomplishment of a single person. Data collection and analysis have benefited from the dedicated work by a number of collaborators, including Stefano Agazzi, Sabina Airoldi, Marta Azzolin, Giovanna Barbieri, Mauro Bastianini, Silvia Bonizzoni, Laura Bonomi, Junio Fabrizio Borsani, Sebastiano Bruno, Enrico Cabras, Benedetta Cavalloni, Andrea Ciboddo, Marina Costa, Massimo Demma, Lucia Di Iorio, Sabrina Ferretti, Elio Filidei, Jr., Caterina Maria Fortuna, Maria Cristina Fossi, Alexandros Frantzis, Joan Gonzalvo, Drasko Holcer, Maddalena Jahoda, Giancarlo Lauriano, Daniela Maldini, Mario Matesic, Letizia Marsili, Lorenza Mel, Cristiana Miglio, Ada Natoli, Gianni Neri, Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara, Sylvan Oehen, Simone Panigada, George Paximadis, Melita Peharda, Giovanna Pesante, Marta Picciulin, Chiara Piroddi, Elena Politi, Sandra Pribanic, Francesco Quondam, Luca Riva, Aviad Scheinin, Brigitte Sifaoui, Nicola Stoppelli, Nina Therkildsen, Daria Tonini, Francesca Triossi, Michèle van der Schoot and Margherita Zanardelli.

I especially thank my colleagues at Tethys Research Institute, and particularly Stefano Agazzi, Sabina Airoldi, Maddalena Jahoda, Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara, Simone Panigada, Elena Politi, and Margherita Zanardelli for making Tethys something to be proud of.

In recent years, Randall R. Reeves guided me through the subtleties of conservation-oriented scientific writing. Thank you Randy for your lessons of style.

The Pew Fellows Program in Marine Conservation - a program of The Pew Charitable Trusts operated in partnership with the New England Aquarium – believed in my research and made me a Pew Fellow in 2001, contributing significant financial support to my studies between 2001-2003. Major funding also came from the Henry Ford European Conservation Award, that in 1996 was awarded to Tethys’ Adriatic Dolphin Project as “Best European Project Overall”. Further practical and financial support was given by hundreds of paying volunteers participating in the “Adriatic Dolphin Project” and “Ionian Dolphin Project” courses organised by Tethys since 1993.

Several companies and organisations have provided materials, logistic support, or funding. These include Agip, Alstom, Apple Computer, Auriga, Canon, Deck Marine, Europe Conservation, Fiamm, FieldWorker, Honda Marine, Lega Navale Italiana, Minolta, Nikon, Novamarine, OCC Yachting, Patagonia, Psion Teklogix, Sony, Telemar, Tuborg, and Veneziani Vernici.

WDCS - The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society and, more recently, ACCOBAMS (the Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea, and Contiguous Atlantic Area) and ASMS - Swiss Marine Mammal Protection provided funding and encouragement. I am grateful to CNR-ISMAR and to the Venice Customs Authority for contributing sighting data and welcoming Tethys observers on board their vessels.

Finally, I would like to thank the Milan Civic Aquarium and Hydrobiological Station, the Venice Natural History Museum, and Thetis SpA for having generously housed the Tethys offices over the years, and for providing comfortable places where my colleagues and I could work.