Page 60 - SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2016

SEA ENVIRONMENT 61

The agreement with the CNR in charge of defi ning and coordinating
actions to continue the collaboration.
In 2016 Costa and the CNR signed Continuous monitoring of the stretches
a framework agreement to further of sea on the routes sailed by Costa’s
the cause of research in the fi elds of ships enables the collection and analysis
oceanography and marine science. of parameters such as temperature,
Under the agreement Costa has made salinity and dissolved oxygen; the data
available its ships and its expertise to is processed to study climate change in
support the scientifi c research network the Mediterranean.
run by the CNR. In addition, we are Special monitoring units have also
working to sensitize guests and crew been set up on board in order to
to the importance of respecting the enable daytime sightings of whales and
balance of nature and the marine dolphins so as to study their behavior
environment. and migration patterns.
To pursue the partnership’s set In 2016 this synergy led to a whale
objectives, a Joint Committee was census project on the routes of big ships Whale census on the routes
set up with two representatives from and to the initial scientifi c dissemination
the CNR and two from Costa Cruises activities. of Costa’s ships

In November the Costa Mediterranea (deployed in the Eastern
Mediterranean) welcomed on board CNR researchers engaged in
the initial scientifi c dissemination activities. Despite the adverse
weather conditions at that time, this preliminary phase was used to
determine the location of the observation points on board the ship in
the most suitable positions for sightings during the summer months.
Summer is the best time of year for whale watching on account of
the long days and favorable sea and weather conditions. The initial
stage was also used to test the fi rst marine science seminars for
guests. The workshops, held in English so as to attract passengers
of diff erent nationalities, gave the researchers the opportunity to
present the main research activities of the CNR’s Fish Technology
Group, which is part of the Ancona branch of ISMAR. Attending
guests were told about the aims of the national BYCATCH project
dealing with the bycatch of whales and other species of conservation
concern during pairtrawling operations in the Adriatic. The lectures
were accompanied by videos showing the sighting and monitoring
of cetaceans and illustrating the project set up with Costa.