Findings by Dr. Giovanni Bearzi (co-Principal Investigator on the Dolphins of Greece project) and his research colleagues will appear in a forthcoming issue of Mammal Review. See the abstract of "Ecology and conservation of common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in the Mediterranean Sea" and learn how to download the full journal article online.
From another cetacean-focused research project, Whales and Dolphins of Moray Firth, Principal Investigator Dr. Kevin Robinson and colleagues have published "Bottlenose dolphins using coastal regions adjacent to a Special Area of Conservation in north-east Scotland" in the Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the UK, Volume 88, Special Issue 6, September 2008.
Keeping with our maritime theme, Earthwatch PIs Dr. Scott Eckert, Dr. Frank Paladino, and Dr. James Spotila, along with their colleagues, published "Persistent leatherback turtle migrations present opportunities for conservation" in the online Public Library of Science Biology journal, identifying how their research on the migration patterns of leatherback sea-turtles-some tracked with tags attached by Earthwatch volunteers-can be used to guide future ocean management efforts for this endangered species.
And, proving that the sea is so big and mysterious that sometimes researchers will find things they're not even looking for, Sharks and Rays of Monterey Bay PI Dr. Sean Van Sommeran reports that in June a team of Earthwatch volunteers working with his Pelagic Shark Research Foundation came upon something worthy of an old sea tale: a giant squid carcass. As reported in the Santa Cruz Sentinel, the team found the 25-foot-long squid (Architeuthis) about 20 miles off the coast of Santa Cruz, and turned it over to scientists at the Long Marine Lab for a necropsy and further research. The specimen is the largest of its type found in those waters, where only 4 or 5 other carcasses have ever been recovered, and only one live giant squid has ever been captured on film.