Journal of the Black Sea / Mediterranean Environment

Abstract

Marine top predators, such as sharks, teleosts and cetaceans, are great indicators of a healthy ecosystem. The primary goal of this paper is to fill the knowledge gaps on top predators in Gökçeada Island located in the North Aegean Sea. Data on marine top predators were collected through Local Ecological Knowledge. Besides, visual and acoustic field surveys were carried out in the summer and autumn of 2019 and winter of 2020. According to the results of the current study, a total of 464 individuals were reported via social media platforms and questionnaires applied to stakeholders as fishermen, divers and harpooners.Delphinus delphisLinnaeus, 1758,Tursiops truncatus(Montagu, 1821) andPhyseter macrocephalusLinnaeus, 1758 were detected during approximately 15 hours of acoustic recording. The records ofCarcharodon carcharias(Linnaeus, 1758), Isurus oxyrinchusRafinesque, 1810, Xiphias gladiusLinnaeus, 1758, Thunnus thynnus(Linnaeus, 1758),D. delphis, Stenella coeruleoalba(Meyen, 1833),T. truncatus,Grampus griseus(Cuvier, 1812),P. macrocephalus, Ziphius cavirostris(Cuvier, 1823),Monachus monachus(Hermann, 1779) were listed in this study. A total of 358 individuals ofX. gladiusandT. thynnuswere reported between the years 2017-2020, being the most abundant top predators in the area.