Foundation Baleària has recently signed a collaboration agreement with the Pelagicus association, dedicated to the conservation and study of marine avifauna in the Mediterranean. This body, which works on the coasts of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencia, focuses its work on several branches: conservation, dissemination and awareness, training and study.
Foundation Baleària It will facilitate trips with the ships of the shipping company so that members of Pelagicus and students and associated researchers can make sightings of birds and other marine animals, a job that is essential to be able to carry out the studies correctly. Thus, the ships of the different Mediterranean lines of Baleària they will become training rooms on the fauna that lives in the sea.
Exchange of students in February
In addition to logistical support, the agreement includes other initiatives, among which it is important to promote the constant exchange of students between the islands and the peninsula.
The first of these exchanges will take place next February. Pelagicus organizes a bird hibernation course in the delta of the Ebro river, in Tarragona, and the Fundació Baleària scholarship for interested students residing in the Balearic Islands. Subsequently, a group of Catalan students will travel to Mallorca to participate in the conservation tasks of the Balearic shearwater in the Sa Dranonera natural park, organized by a working group of the University of Oxford.
Ricard Pérez, manager of Fundació Baleària has stated that "It is an important agreement for us as we expand our network and our commitment to the environment". For his part, Ricard Gutiérrez, co-founder of the Pelagicus association, pointed out that "With this synergy it will be easier to raise awareness about some species that do not have the media focus that others like cetaceans have".
Support to the scientific community
In line with this new agreement with Pelagicus, Fundació Baleària also collaborates in other areas of the Mediterranean Sea. An example of this is the existing agreement with the University of Cádiz to facilitate the sightings of cetaceans that this entity makes in the Strait of Gibraltar. The large number of routes and ships that the shipping company has between North Africa and the south of the peninsula are essential for the university body to do their research. And, as Ricard Pérez himself says: "We want our ships to be scientific research platforms".
