International and multidisciplinary network for the preservation of the good environmental status of the marine areas of Macaronesian region and the conservation of their cetacean populations (SANICET)

Abstract

Macaronesian Region is an important biodiversity hotspot located in the North Atlantic Ocean, between Europe and Africa, conformed by four archipelagos (Azores, Madeira, Canary Islands and Cabo Verde Islands). Among the species that inhabits this area, cetaceans occupy a remarkable place in terms of abundance and diversity, having confirmed the presence of 32 different species residing or transiting their waters. Macaronesian Cetacean Health Network (SANICET) was conceived with the objective of carrying out a program of health surveillance of Macaronesian cetacean populations or, in other words, to assess and monitoring those possible risk factors or threats that could affect, directly or indirectly, the conservation of these cetaceans. Diverse scientific groups specialists in cetaceans that usually work in this Region, in different areas of knowledge: animal health, ecology and oceanography, joined efforts to integrate and harmonize procedures and knowledge from a multidisciplinary and interregional point of view, connecting them up into a powerful ICT tool of recent creation, a Collaborative Virtual Community (CVC) which shares data, information and methods, overcoming territorial and border fragmentation in the cetaceans conservation. This initiative took shape through the MARCET Project (Interreg-MAC 2014-2020), in which the scientific studies proposed are directed towards the management for the preservation of the good environmental status of Macaronesian marine areas, the conservation of their cetacean populations and the promotion of a sustainable ecotourism model, mainly related to Whale Watching activity.