There are about 100 Marine protected Areas (MPAs) in several Mediterranean countries. Depending on the case and the purpose for which they were created, they have different sizes and regulations on what and how to protect within their limits. Extremely few among these MPAs have specific measures for cetacean conservation in their management plans.

On 25th October 2007, at the Third meeting of the Parties of ACCOBAMS (Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and contiguous Atlantic Area) held in Dubrovnik, the parties adopted a Resolution supporting the creation of the MPAs shown in the map below. The Parties of ACCOBAMS (countries shown with darker colour on the map) agreed to work with local communities to designate the areas shown on the map and to develop management plans to address threats to cetaceans.

Looking at the map below you can count 18 proposed areas. Surprisingly, almost half of them (8) are found in the Greek Seas. This is due to two reasons: 1) The Greek Seas still present a very high, although fragile, diversity in cetacean species (see a relevant publication), 2) This previously unexpected diversity became known through the serious and continuous scientific work of two NGOs, the Pelagos Cetacean Research Institute and the Tethys Research Institute, who dedicated a huge amount of effort on the study and conservation of the cetacean species of the Greek Seas.

The MPA map was prepared by Lesley Frampton and Erich Hoyt / WDCS and translated to Greek by members of the Pelagos Cetacean Research Institute (available in the Hellenic version of this website). French, Spanish, Croatian, Russian and Arabic versions are available in the "Cetacean Habitat" website.

Click on the map to enlarge or download a PDF version. Modifying this map is not allowed.

A proposed Marine Protected Area in Greece for the Mediterranean Sperm Whales!

In 1998 the Pelagos Cetacean Research Institute discovered and started to study the most important Sperm Whale population unit at the Mediterranean level. Following the importance of this discovery, in 2002 the Parties to ACCOBAMS adopted a Resolution (1.9) including Action n° 4 "Development and implementation of pilot conservation and management actions in well-defined key areas containing critical habitat for populations belonging to priority species". This action identified four initial areas as pilot Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) that should be developed and implemented as soon as possible. Among the four areas, the offshore waters of SW Crete in Greece were identified as a key area containing critical habitat for the conservation of the Mediterranean Sperm Whales.

Because of the indications that became available through the study of sperm whale movement, the study area of our research program was significantly enlarged in 2002 to cover the biggest part of the Hellenic Trench, from Lefkada Island in the Ionian Sea to the south-eastern edge of Crete.

In 2007, after 10 years of research, the Pelagos Cetacean Research Institute had collected all the necessary data to demonstrate that a much larger part of the Hellenic Trench should be designated as MPA to effectively protect the Sperm Whales. The president of the Pelagos Cetacean Research Institute sent an official letter to the Scientific Committee of ACCOBAMS, proposing to consider the updated knowledge and to endorse an enlarged and more precise delimitation of the proposed MPA boundaries for sperm whales along the Hellenic Trench. The letter noted the important and likely unsustainable number of sperm whales that strand along the Greek coasts with marks by collisions with vessels (as well as other threats such as noise, driftnets etc.) underline the necessity to urgently create a MPA that would help sperm whales survive at long term.

In April 2007 the Scientific Committee of ACCOBAMS welcomed our proposal and therefore asked the Pelagos Cetacean Research Institute and Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) to modify accordingly the Mediterranean MPA map. This modification was adopted also by the 3rd Meeting of the Parties of ACCOBAMS on 25 October 2007, under Resolution 3.22.

In June 2007 a Global Scientific Workshop on Spatio-Temporal Management of Noise held in Lanzarote, Canary Islands, studied how noise should be managed to reduce the threat that poses to cetaceans globally, and specifically in the Mediterranean Sea. Three proposed or existing Mediterranean MPAs were studied thoroughly as urgent cases; among them the proposed MPA in the Hellenic Trench after the arguments presented by the Pelagos Cetacean Research Institute. The document produced by the workshop recommended the following:

1) Immediate cessation of all seismic and military sonar activities in the Hellenic Trench

2) Introduction of cautions to shipping until appropriate noise protection zones, mitigation measures and shipping lane regulations can be put into place

3) Enforcement of national legislation by the authorities, so that all illegal dynamite fishing along the Hellenic Trench (and in all Greek Seas) is stopped

4) Designation by Greece of the SW Crete-Hellenic Trench MPA with a follow-up management plan to address threats to the species and the ecosystem

Now it's time for the Greek Authorities to honor their signature as Party of ACCOBAMS and fulfill their duty by making all the necessary steps towards the creation and implementation of a MPA in the Hellenic Trench, with specific regulations for the conservation of sperm whales and sympatric Cuvier's beaked whales.