NCC has begun a research collaboration with the University of St Andrews in Scotland, providing acoustic data for sperm whales, which have been collected over the past two years in the Greek Trench region and which will be used in a postgraduate thesis. This is an important collaboration that may contribute in the understanding of the specificities of the sperm whale population in the eastern mediterranean region. The St Andrews research team includes some of the top experts in the study of marine mammals worldwide. In the study participate two important coworkers of NCC, Dr. Popi Gikopoulou and Dr. Jonathan Gordon.
The topic of the master’s thesis is the identification of codas. Blowers (Physeter macrocephalus) live in long-lived social clades within matriarchal societies, which are phonetically distinguished by dialects of socially learned click series called codas. Dialectal differences in codas patterns have identified seven distinct cultural tribes inhabiting the Pacific Ocean. Studies have shown that “identity codas”, following a 3+1 click pattern, characterize the geographically and genetically isolated Mediterranean subpopulation. However, recent research suggests that this pattern may differ between Western and Eastern Mediterranean bellows populations. This Master’s research involves acoustic analysis of codas from bellows living in the Greek Trench, initially aiming to assess how closely they adhere to or deviate from the known 3+1 pattern. If this pattern differs, evidence of vocal specificity and cultural transmission would support regional diversity in this species. This, in turn, would benefit ongoing conservation efforts to promote nature and biodiversity and reduce human disturbance in important Mediterranean marine habitats.
