Bonjour,

 

J' ai échangé quelques email avec la scientifique Mme Daniela Silvia Pace en Italie.

Je voulais avoir une précision sur ce sauvetage incroyable de cachalots en 2004 au large de son pays. Son rapport fait froid dans le dos et le film aussi.Toute l' équipe à profité de l' occasion pour étudier l' acoustique et le comportement des cachalots.

J' ai toujours entendu et lu des articles ou rapports sur les dégâts des filets de pêches en mer. Aujourd'hui encore les mammifères marins restent prisonniers de ces "murs de la morts" sans que personne puisse les stopper.

Pourtant, en Europe, depuis le premier janvier 2002, les filets dérivants sont interdits en Méditerranée.

Voici le résumé du rapport :

> >> Driftnet fishing is notorious for being the major source of fatal entanglement of cetaceans and for its devastating impact on some pelagic species of the Mediterranean fauna. Of all the large cetaceans, the sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) is most affected by this fishing technique. On 9 August 2004, a group of five sperm whales, two adult females and three juvenile individuals, was found trapped in a driftnet 40 miles southwest off Capo Palinuro (Italy). Their tails were totally immobilised by the net and one animal was completely entangled. All the animals showed numerous lesions on their bodies. The group was freed by the Italian Coast Guard scuba-diving team during a two-day rescue operation. This exceptional case of sperm whale disentanglement was a unique opportunity to study the group’s acoustic and general behavior during a particularly stressful event. Out of a total video/acoustic recording of 110 minutes, 91 were examined. During the rescue procedures, the whales’ behaviour was described as open mouthed, sideways roll, agitation of fluke and pectoral fins, head rubbing, fluke contact (with head, flippers and back by the liberated animals) and defecation. As expected, the entangled individuals produced different patterns of clicks, identified as ‘usual clicks’, ‘codas’ and ‘creaks’. Each pattern was associated with specific behaviour. Despite international and national regulation banning fishing with driftnets in the Mediterranean Sea, driftnets continue to be used illegally in this sperm whale habitat, posing a constant threat to the
species’ survival in the region > >>.

Daniela Silvia Pace - Scientific Director
Systema Naturae - Biodiversity Foundation - Palazzina dell'Auditorio, Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei - Via della Lungara 229/230 - 00165 Rome Italy
www.fondazionesystemanaturae.org

 

Voici le rapport (in english) en format pdf. et le film se trouve sur le site internet de la fondation:

• rapport (in english, format pdf)

• film: http://www.delphismdc.org/video/spadare.WMV

Je remercie Mme Silvia Pace et toute son équipe!

Bonne lecture. Cordialement.

Julien Marchal - Rangiroa - Polynésie française - mai 2009.