New record of the humpback whale in the Adriatic Sea in 2009
Tilen Genov, Morigenos

Tilen Genov, Morigenos - marine mammal research and conservation society, Slovenia

A report in submitted herein on the occurrence of a humpback whale in Slovenian territorial waters (Gulf of Trieste, North Adriatic Sea) during February, March and April 2009. This is the first confirmed and documented record of this species for Slovenia and the Gulf of Trieste, the second for the Adriatic Sea and the 14th for the Mediterranean Sea. The whale was observed from the coast and from a small inflatable boat. Its dorsal fin, tail fluke and other body parts were photographed for the purposes of photo-identification and dive times were recorded. The animal was estimated to be a sub-adult or a young adult, about 10-12 m long, apparently in good body condition. It is possible that the whale had come into the area by following food sources.

Research was conducted under the scientific permit of the Slovenian Environmental Agency, number 35601-29/2009-4.

Morigenos - marine mammal research and conservation society is an independent, non-profit and non-governmental organization, dedicated to the research and protection of cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) and conservation of the marine environment. The organization was founded in 2001 and is carrying out several projects in the field of scientific research, education, public awareness and conservation. Slovenian Dolphin Project - the research and conservation of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in Slovenian and adjacent waters - is the main project of Morigenos. Morigenos has been studying and following these dolphins since 2002. As a result, a previously unknown local resident population of bottlenose dolphins in the area was identified and documented. Information on other species that occasionally visit the area is also collected opportunistically.

The whale stayed in the area for 2 months and was repeatedly observed and recorded during the period. This dataset contains only one record from the observations.

Genov, T., P. Kotnjek, and L. Lipej. 2009. New record of the humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the Adriatic Sea. Annales, Series Historia Naturalis. 19(1): 25-30

Overview

Attributes described below represent those in the original dataset provided by the provider.
Only minimum required attributes are visible and downlodable online. Other attributes may be obtained upon provider's permission unless otherwise noteded below.

This section explains attributes included in the original dataset. OBIS-SEAMAP restricts the attributes available to the public to date/time, lat/lon and species names/counts only. Should you need other attributes described here, you are encouraged to contact the data provider.

Attributes in dataset provided

Attribute (table column)	Description
oid	Unique ID number (generated by SEAMAP)
row_id	Row ID
latitude	Latitude in decimal degrees
longitude	Longitude in decimal degrees
obs_date	date of observation. The day part is masked, replaced with 01.
sp_obs	Species name
sp_tsn	ITIS taxonomic serial number. This field added by OBIS-SEAMAP
obs_count	animal count
data_owner	Data owner
org	Organization