ARION System for coastal dolphin conservation: A tool for real-time dolphin passive acoustic monitoring in the Portofino Marine Protected Area

Within the framework of the EU Life+ project named LIFE09 NAT/IT/000190 ARION, a permanent autonomous real-time passive acoustic monitoring system has been implemented in the Portofino Marine Protected Area (IT) for the improvement of the conservation status of bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus). The system is able to detect and track in real time the simultaneous presence of dolphins and motor boats in the study area. This information is used to prevent collisions and noise pollution by diffusing warning presence messages to the end users involved, as sailors and tourists. In three years of data collecting the proper functioning of the system has been validated. A large number of dolphin pods has been detected and localized. Furthermore different types of motor boats have been tracked in the study area. The system is also able to measure different marine parameters and to obtain the ambient background noise in order to understand the influence of human activities on the dolphin behavior. This type of research is in progress and the first results are shown.