Jonian Dolphin Conservation: research and citizen science in the Gulf of Taranto, Italy – It all began with two students with a dream in the classrooms of Palazzo Amati, a satellite campus of the University of Bari located in the heart of Taranto’s historic center. Years later, that very place would become one of the symbolic landmarks of the story we are about to tell in this article.
The view from the classroom windows opens onto the Cheradi Islands, the Gulf of Taranto, and the Ionian Sea. From this setting emerged one of the most compelling experiences in the Mediterranean in the fields of cetacean (dolphin and whale) research, citizen science, and science communication.
Born from the sea: a story of passion and science
During their university in the early 2000s, Carmelo Fanizza and Vittorio Pollazzon ran a diving school alongside their studies, organizing sea excursions with local charter operators. At this point, tourism and scientific observation started to merge into what is now termed citizen science projects. What drove Fanizza and Pollazzon, however, was pure enthusiasm, energy, and a strong desire to build a connection to the marine world.
During the summer of 2010, when Fanizza was taking tourists along the Ionian coast and offshore for sea excursions on a small research boat, something extraordinary occurred. Pods of dolphins suddenly appeared to the delight of the tourists, swimming and leaping out of the water within reach of the vessel. This thrilling encounter left a deep impression on everyone on board.
That experience sparked Fanizza’s scientific curiosity, which soon evolved into a research project. Fanizza, together with a group of like-minded and equally visionary friends, including Pollazzon, decided to embark on a long-term scientific study of the presence of cetaceans in the Gulf of Taranto. While characterized by high levels of human activity, the Gulf of Taranto maintains a surprisingly rich marine life.
Carmelo Fanizza, founder of Jonian Dolphin Conservation
The first steps of Jonian Dolphin Conservation
Recalling those early years, Fanizza explains how the initiative gradually took shape:
“At the foundation of everything lies a deep love for these extraordinary marine mammals, the sensations and emotions you feel when watching them swim freely in the sea. Those feelings led me to want to do something concrete to protect them from the threats of intense human activity, which deteriorated the habitat where they live and reproduce.
Over time we developed research protocols to study cetaceans involving several activities, from DNA sampling to acoustic monitoring with hydrophones. However, continuous monitoring remains essential: every year we carry out more than 200 sea surveys, collecting an enormous amount of data that we share with the international scientific community. This data also forms the basis of the many scientific papers and publications we have produced.”
The establishment of Jonian Dolphin Conservation
In 2011, Fanizza, together with researchers and enthusiasts of marine ecosystems, founded the scientific association Jonian Dolphin Conservation (JDC), whose mission is summarized in the motto: “Explore… With respect… To understand…”
Today, alongside its founders, the organization employs a team of around ten highly qualified professionals. From the outset, activities focused on cetacean monitoring through scientific dolphin-watching campaigns, during which sighting data are systematically collected and shared with leading Italian and international research institutions.
Encounters with cetaceans in the Gulf of Taranto are remarkably frequent. Over the years, JDC researchers have recorded a sighting rate of approximately 98 percent, one of the highest in the Mediterranean.
Through collaboration with Italian National Research Centre CNR-STIIMA in Bari, JDC also uses a photo-identification system that allows researchers to recognize individual cetaceans by photographing their dorsal fins. Each sighting is recorded in a database and, when possible, compared with previous records of the same individual.
The most commonly observed species is the striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba), a highly social pelagic dolphin often seen playing around boats.
More rarely observed are the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) and Risso’s dolphin (Grampus griseus), which can reach four meters in length.
Occasionally researchers also record sightings of the rare short-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus delphis), as well as fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) and sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus).
A discovery that redefined the Gulf of Taranto
A key encounter occurred on 16 August 2012. At sunset, JDC researchers spotted several newborn striped dolphins closely protected by their pod. Their small size indicated that the calves had been born only days earlier, indicating that the area was a feeding ground, or a zone where the conditions are ideal for dolphins to live and reproduce. In fact, this feeding ground, just a few kilometers from Taranto’s industrial region, proved to be one of the rarest in the Mediterranean, containing hundreds of dolphins. The discovery quickly attracted the attention of the international scientific community.
The feeding ground’s hospitable conditions are linked to the unique bathymetric structure of the Gulf of Taranto, characterized by a system of submarine canyons reaching depths of more than 1,000 meters just a few miles from the coast. These formations, combined with a generally mild climate and an abundance of small pelagic fish, create an ideal marine habitat.
Citizen Science: become a Researcher for One Day
Jonian Dolphin Conservation adopted an innovative model to support its scientific activities by recruiting the community. Citizens are directly involved in sea surveys, becoming “Researchers for a Day” and actively participating in cetacean monitoring. This approach reflects the model of citizen science, which combines scientific outreach with public participation.
During the excursions, volunteers explain how cetaceans live and reproduce, engaging both adults and children, while conveying the importance of protecting marine ecosystems. Encounters with dolphins are always non-invasive: there is no direct interaction and no disturbance. This is a philosophical approach that profoundly differs from dolphinariums, where cetaceans are turned into circus attractions.
A scientific organization growing in structure
Over the years, Jonian Dolphin Conservation has progressively strengthened its organizational structure in order to make its work for the protection of cetaceans and marine ecosystems more effective and sustainable. Today the organization operates two research catamarans, Taras and Extraordinaria, used for scientific monitoring.
Important collaborations have been developed with academic institutions as well, including the Department of Biology at the University of Bari, with whom JDC supports the establishment of a Marine Protected Area in the Gulf of Taranto.
When asked about the most critical issues for the future of the Gulf of Taranto, Fanizza emphasized the looming threat of human activity to this extraordinary hotspot:
“In the Northern Ionian Sea the persistent presence of numerous cetacean species has been scientifically demonstrated, as they have found particularly favorable bio-ecological conditions here. This extraordinary marine biodiversity is nevertheless exposed to significant anthropogenic threats capable of impacting the dolphin and whale species inhabiting the study area.”
Despite hosting several cetacean species, the Gulf of Taranto, long identified as a critical habitat essential for their conservation, is currently not included in any long-term management framework for their protection.
For this reason, according to an ecosystem-based approach, the establishment of a Marine Protected Area represents an indispensable instrument for safeguarding the cetaceans present in the Gulf of Taranto. This approach is also in line with European directives and international protocols for the conservation of vulnerable and threatened species in the Mediterranean.”
Vittorio Pollazzon, founder of Jonian Dolphin Conservation
Ketos: A Euro-Mediterranean Center dedicated to the sea
In 2018 the KETOS – Euro-Mediterranean Center for the Sea and Cetaceans project was launched, supported by Fondazione con il Sud. The project transformed Palazzo Amati, in Taranto’s historic center, into a multifunctional space dedicated to the sea: a museum area, tourism services, a virtual library, and spaces devoted to social entrepreneurship.
Today Ketos serves as the operational headquarters of Jonian Dolphin Conservation and a reference point for educational, scientific, and cultural activities.
Pollazzon described public education programs as a significant development in JDC’s activities:
“Palazzo Amati hosts Ketós, the Euro-Mediterranean Center for the Sea and Cetaceans, but above all it is the home of Jonian Dolphin Conservation, where throughout the year we carry out numerous activities for schools and for our members of all ages, including laboratories and workshops aimed at deepening knowledge of marine ecosystems.”
Palazzo Amati is also open to the entire community, hosting events of various kinds and serving as a center for social gathering and urban regeneration in the old town of Taranto. It is a historic municipal palace that has come back to life thanks to two projects involving local third-sector networks supported by Fondazione con il Sud. For years we have used the ground floor as part of the first project, and in recent weeks, following renovation works, we have begun setting up the first and second floors, which will also host the control room of the San Paolo Dolphin Refuge.”
The San Paolo Dolphin Refuge
To conclude, we asked Fanizza to describe one of the most visionary initiatives developed by JDC: the San Paolo Dolphin Refuge. Fanizza explained, “The San Paolo Dolphin Refuge has been created within a seven-hectare marine area protected by the Island of San Paolo, the smaller of the two Cheradi Islands facing Taranto.” Here, dolphins coming from dolphinariums will be able to gradually adapt to natural conditions and live safely, monitored through advanced technologies from the control room located within the new spaces of the Ketos Center.
Thanks to the synergy between third-sector organizations, JDC and Fondazione con il Sud, together with public and leading international research and zoological institutions, the San Paolo Dolphin Refuge was established as the first facility in the Mediterranean ready to host these animals.
Dolphins must be preserved within their natural environment in the marine ecosystem of which they are an integral and irreplaceable part. The ideal conditions of these areas to guarantee their survival are outlined by the scientific community based on ecology, behavior, and physiology.
The objective is to provide sanctuary to several bottlenose dolphins, the species most commonly used in dolphinariums, that cannot be reintroduced into the wild. All the while, ensuring high standards of welfare, monitoring, and care.
A scientific community born from a dream
Today, the JDC is a well-established organization employing a stable team of qualified researchers and professionals and involving numerous volunteers, students, and young scholars.
While the organization has grown, the spirit that animated it in the first place remains the same: to look at the sea as a place of research, knowledge, and responsibility.
Fanizza and Pollozzon’s story demonstrates that scientific research can emerge from a local initiative and grow into a powerful tool capable of generating knowledge, building community, and contributing to the protection of the sea.
An important message for new generations: studying, observing, and understanding the sea also means learning how to protect it.
And sometimes, everything simply begins with a dream.
Jonian Dolphin Conservation: research and citizen science in the Gulf of Taranto, Italy
