2009-01-16

Aerial Survey Of Italian Cetaceans

ANSA reports that a special airplane will be circling the skies off the northwestern Italian coast in coming days, as the countrys first winter census of whales and dolphins gets under way.

The plane, launched by the Tethys Cetacean Monitoring Institute and financed by the environment ministry, will scan kilometres of sea in a large protected area.

Tethys Institute Vice-President Simone Panigada explained why researchers had taken the decision to carry out the census using a small plane. Boats are usually used to monitor cetaceans but planes are less dependent on weather conditions and will allow us to gather data quickly, going out just a few days when the weather and sea conditions are favourable and visibility good, he said. The aircraft has been equipped with special bubble windows, to allow researchers to observe the waters below