A
total of 273 days at sea were performed by
the three teams of the Madeira, Azores and Canary Islands. During this
period
32 tags (VHF/TDR) were deployed in the four target species. Pilot
whales in the
Canary Islands and sperm whales in Madeira and Azores provided valuable
results
and 30 biopsy samples were obtained for each of the target species on
each
archipelago (except sperm whales in the Canary Islands and pilot whales
in
Azores). Thousands of photographs were obtained for foto-identification
purposes allowing creating or actualizing the catalogues of each
species in
each archipelago, as well the comparison between these catalogues
between
archipelagos.
The studies performed during this project
helped us to increase the knowledge on the genetic structure,
distribution,
movements and habitat use of the target species in and between the
Madeira,
Azores and Canary Islands.
The analysis of the results indicates that
these three regions share the same cetacean populations and therefore
have
implications on the managment and conservation of cetaceans in the
Macaronesian
region.
On what concerns to scientific publication
the MACETUS project already has one article in press
in the journal Conservation
Genetics and three in preparation, apart from presented posters
in
Symposiums.
A “Networking
group for the study and
conservation of the cetaceans in the Macaronesia”
was also created. The
partnerships of this project are susteining this network, however, more
partnerships and an active political role are needed for its official
status.