03/04/2020
“Assessing the vulnerability of the Black Sea marine ecosystem to human pressures” (ANEMONE) project has conducted a cetacean survey of the western coasts of Black Sea with its 7-member crew. Covering 600 km in 8 days, the research expedition surveyed cetaceans in the western Black Sea coast of Turkey between Bulgarian border İğneada to Karadeniz Ereğli.
The expedition was conducted to obtain accurate scientific data on the abundance and distribution of cetaceans in the Black Sea. They also collected data on floating marine litter to get a better understanding about the human pressures on cetaceans. 16 harbor porpoises (2 trips), 113 bottlenose dolphins (28 trips) and 114 common dolphins (28 trips) were observed. Analyses are underway.
The first meeting of the Joint Programming Committee – body responsible for the preparation of the Interreg NEXT (Neighbourhood External) Black Sea Basin Programme 2021-2027 – was held on the 29th of January 2020 in Brussels, Belgium. The eligible participating countries of the new Programme involves ten states from the Black Sea Basin: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Turkey and Ukraine.