Research Assistant for Cetacean Species

The Cetacean Sanctuary Research (CSR) — established in 1990 — is a long-term project focusing on the ecology, behaviour, feeding habits and conservation of the cetacean species living in the Pelagos Sanctuary. Eight different species of whales and dolphins live in the Pelagos Sanctuary in the north-western Mediterranean: striped dolphins, sperm whales, fin whales and bottlenose dolphins are the most common marine mammals.

Our cruises are quite different from simple whale watching.

Every day will be spent at sea as long as the weather conditions allow it.  You will be involved in various research activities, from sighting shifts during the day to night watches, in case weather and sea conditions are good enough to spend the night in the open sea.

You also help the researchers collecting scientific data, including geographic location of sightings, dive durations, behaviour, group size and composition. In some cases, faecal and prey samples are also collected in order to obtain information on dietary habits of fin whales and sperm whales.

Researchers and project participants often listen to vocalisations recorded in the field and help in the processing of digital photos of cetaceans sighted, in order to recognise different individuals.

Lectures on cetacean biology and conservation are also given by the researchers. The skipper is always eager to answer questions about navigation and sailing techniques.

No previous experience.

Participants must also be willing to share housekeeping duties and space on the boat. The contributions of the participants over the years represented the main funding source for our research.

Research is conducted on board our research vessel “Pelagos”, departing weekly from Sanremo( Italy), from May to October.

“Pelagos” is a two-masts motorsailer used for the research with citizen-science participants in the cetacean Sanctuary. The spacious and very comfortable Tethys boat is managed according to the rules of responsible tourism; it is equipped with sophisticated instrumentation used for navigation and the collection of scientific data. “Pelagos” has two masts and can sail and manoeuvre by means of a fully electronic system, that can be switched to manual at any time. An inflatable craft is sometimes used to get closer to the animals. Since 2012 the vessel is cleaned only with eco-friendly detergents (organic,non-toxic and biodegradable), kindly provided by Biolù..

In a typical day we wake-up between 7:00 and 8:00 AM, depending on circumstances. We will depart after breakfast and spend the day navigating and conducting research. Both researchers and participants will be assigned sighting shifts in order to ensure constant sighting effort.   In some cases, when weather conditions are optimal, a night may be spent at sea for research purposes. However, less favourable conditions will force us to spend the night in the harbour or in a sheltered bay. Once sighted, cetaceans may be followed for up to several hours, while a series of variables and information is recorded. 

During the day, there is also time to relax when you are not on shift, and sometimes even stop for a swim break, and learn basic navigation skills from the skipper. 

One must always bear in mind that flexibility is essential in order to participate to research activities such as this one. Please note that since weather and sea conditions favorable for cetacean sighting and data collection (lack of wind and flat sea) are not the same that allow sailing, the boat normally does not use sails and proceeds with the engine on.