European Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises: Marine Mammal Conservation in Practice presents an intimate view of the workings of international conservation agreements to protect marine mammals, detailing its achievements over the last 25 years, whilst identifying weaknesses and making recommendations that governments, scientists, marine stakeholders and the public can take to improve conservation efforts.
This book is written by an experienced marine mammal scientist and awarding-winning conservationist. It provides a unique synthesis of current knowledge of whales, dolphins, and porpoises in Europe, covering their statuses, distribution, and ecology. It presents information available on the various conservation threats, including fisheries bycatch, contaminants, noise disturbance, plastic ingestion, and climate change. the conservation actions currently being taken and under discussion for the future. The book also describes research methods which apply new and innovative technologies to study these challenging animals that spend 90% of their lives underwater.
European Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises: Marine Mammal Conservation in Practice will appeal to marine mammal conservationists and researchers, as well as to environmental and wildlife practitioners at all levels.
1. Introduction
2. History of the ASCOBANS Agreement
3. Conservation Agreements for the Protection of Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises
4. Introductions to European Cetaceans
5. Conservation Problems Facing Small European Cetaceans
6. Conservation Research
7. Conservation Actions
8. Focus on the Future
Dr Peter Evans has worked on marine mammals in Europe for more than 40 years. He was the founding Secretary of the European Cetacean Society, later its Chairman, and its Editor for 25 years. A member of several international committees, he has written and edited twelve books, mainly on marine mammals, and published around 200 scientific papers. He is the Director of the UK marine environmental research charity, Sea Watch Foundation, and lectures in the School of Ocean Sciences, University of Bangor, Wales.