Watch: The team safeguarding endangered marine life in the Aegean Sea

euronews (in English)

The Archipelagos Institute of Marine Conservation is on a mission to protect and restore the biodiversity of the Aegean Sea through research and community engagement.

Transcript

00:00We know more about the moon and the craters in the surface of the moon than we know about

00:08the depths of our seas.

00:09So research is necessary in order to cover our knowledge gaps.

00:14Here in the Aegean Sea we have discovered an important biodiversity hotspot.

00:20Sperm whales, big whales, fin whales, four species of dolphins, the highly endangered

00:26and extensive seagrass meadows.

00:29It is incredibly important to share the knowledge, share images about their importance, their

00:36beauty, their significance and their threats so that we can all share the responsibility

00:41for the protection.

00:42It is impossible to protect something that we are unaware it exists.

00:56Archipelagos Institute is a Greek environmental NGO committed to defending and protecting

01:02the biodiversity of the Greek seas against the increasing human threats.

01:08Human induced threats are many.

01:10Overfishing and over exploitation of the fish stocks and destruction of marine habitats

01:16is one of the key threats.

01:18One of the key sources of overfishing is trawling.

01:22When a trawler fishes in a sensitive marine habitat the damage is irreversible.

01:28It can take many centuries to recover if it ever recovers.

01:33Over 1,000 alien species have already entered the Mediterranean Sea and over 100 of them

01:41are considered invasive.

01:43They find our seas overfished so they find ample space to grow and expand.

01:50A few years after Archipelagos started we realized that a large part of the problem

01:56is the way scientists understand conservation.

02:00This was the sparkle that generated the Archipelagos Institute that has brought over 25,000 students,

02:09young graduates, researchers who join us, devote time and effort.

02:15They man many of our important conservation projects.

02:18Many of them focus on projects such as marine mammal research or they work on coastal ecology projects,

02:25monitoring climate change and they help with mapping using different equipment to map the sea floor.

02:32We get a lot of young people coming through from all nationalities and different academic backgrounds.

02:38We have geographers, biologists, mathematicians and it gives them an excellent opportunity

02:45to learn from each other.

02:51As part of being the project manager of the marine mammal team I supervise some interns.

02:56My objectives for the marine mammal team would be to show the importance of this area

03:02from a point of view of research.

03:05As an intern I have my own project that focuses on the behavior of dolphins.

03:11Every time we have a sighting of dolphins we collect the data on their behavior,

03:16we take pictures, we record them.

03:18Interns are a very important part of getting the data for the Institute.

03:22My work is very much focused on finding vulnerable marine ecosystems.

03:29So that can be anything from corals to seagrass which is very important habitats for the local fish.

03:36These habitats are severely under threat.

03:38They are very easily damaged.

03:40The recovery times for these damages can be massive.

03:43For some coral species they can be as old as 4,000 years old.

03:52Archipelago is much more than just marine conservation.

03:56In the terrestrial team we are looking towards the mammals.

04:00A typical day consists of going out on surveys where we explore the areas.

04:05We look for specific plants.

04:07We set up camera traps for the golden jackal to capture this elusive species.

04:13We also do bird surveys to monitor the migratory birds as we are situated in an important migratory flyway.

04:21Inviting and hosting all these brilliant young people has created a very dynamic and creative network of professionals.

04:31Their good energy also keeps us going in this very difficult effort.

04:35We are hoping at the same time to inspire them to protect our seas and to address the ever increasing human threats.

04:44For us in Archipelagos the future is demanding that we become more and more efficient.

04:51It's time to put the steps into action.

04:54We need to act straight away because the problems are immense but they are also simple.

04:59There has definitely been a shift in people's attitude towards the environment.

05:04I think as our generation and the younger generations come up and start to have more power we are going to see more change happen quicker.

05:12We are very worried here in Archipelagos.

05:14For me personally, it has to do with time.

05:17Time is chasing us.

05:19We have already spent 25 years in the Aegean, covering a large area.

05:24And it has to do with knowledge.

05:26Because in order to deal with things, you need knowledge.

05:29My hope is that as long as we are still strong and with enough energy, I think we can gradually start to change things.

05:39The victory and the success is ways we can join forces and act together in order to address problems.

05:48We have to protect the environment in order to protect our own survival.

05:52This is not a choice but an obligation.

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