France, Italy and the Principality of Monaco will be funding three scientific projects aimed at improving our understanding of marine mammals and putting adequate and effective measures to protect them in place. The projects were selected following a call for proposals launched over 2017 and were chosen during the 7th Meeting of the Parties to the Pelagos Agreement, held in December in the Auditorium Rainier III.

The three projects will be launched in early 2018 and will receive €250,000 in funding. They will be carried out by teams from the three participating countries. During the meeting, France also left the Presidency of the Agreement in favour of Monaco.

Pelagos Sanctuary agreement — Ludovic Schultz, Head of the French Delegation, representing H.E. Mr Xavier Sticker, and Cyril Gomez, Head of the Monegasque Delegation. / Photo © Manuel Vitali / Government Communication Department

The winning projects are:

‘Plastic Free Pelagos’ which will integrate measures to reduce plastic debris in the Sanctuary area;
‘Studying biological and toxicological contamination of cetaceans in the Pelagos Sanctuary’ which will assess the origins of pollutants, monitor and measure their levels and help reduce impact;
And a proposal to develop and evaluate strategies to reduce the risk of ships injuring fin whales and sperm whales in the Pelagos Sanctuary.