The EMPHATIC project promotes new techniques to assess the health and distribution of cetaceans
- This European initiative, running until 2027, is led by the Spanish Research Council (CSIC) and aims to provide effective tools for marine conservation and environmental policymaking.
Santiago de Compostela, 28th April 2025.
The Spanish Research Council (CSIC) – through its Institute of Marine Research (IIM-CSIC) – leads the European project EMPHATIC, in collaboration with the Oceanographic Centre of Vigo (COV, IEO-CSIC) and partners from four other countries: the University of La Rochelle (LRUniv, France), the Interdisciplinary Centre for Marine and Environmental Research (CIIMAR, Portugal), the Directorate-General for Natural Resources, Safety and Maritime Services (DGRM, Portugal), and the CIMA Research Foundation (Italy).
Launched in 2024, EMPHATIC aims to advance the monitoring and conservation of cetacean populations through the development of pioneering methodologies that can generate reliable indicators to support environmental policies.
“Our focus is on developing health and distribution indicators for cetaceans, which will be integrated into a monitoring tool for policymakers and other stakeholders,” explains Graham Pierce, project coordinator and IIM-CSIC researcher.
To achieve this, the consortium is implementing innovative, non-invasive methodologies, including the use of environmental DNA (eDNA) to identify species presence and diversity from water samples, aerial drone photogrammetry to assess body condition, and blow sampling to analyse respiratory microbiomes and hormone levels to determine overall animal health.
During its first year, the project focused on designing and optimising field and laboratory protocols. “We have collected initial samples and established our data management, risk mitigation and communication plans. Our next step is to compile tested protocols and training materials, and complete sample collection to validate the developed methodologies,” adds Pierce.
The resulting monitoring tool will also include training and capacity-building resources and will be distributed to stakeholders, including policymakers and regional environmental assessment bodies at both national and European levels.
The IIM-CSIC leads the project’s coordination, data collection, and development of population-level health indicators. It is also involved in analysing the cetaceans’ respiratory microbiome together with CIIMAR, using blow samples to identify microbial communities in the respiratory tract. Preliminary results have already helped optimise DNA extraction protocols and establish a reliable and reproducible sequencing method.
The Marine Mammal Team at COV, led by Camilo Saavedra, has conducted two campaigns: RorquGAL B&B, focused on fin whales in Galician waters, and CetaRIA B&B, which studies bottlenose and common dolphins in the Ría de Vigo. These campaigns collected blow samples and aerial images suitable for photogrammetry. Additionally, during the IEO’s PELACUS campaign, eDNA samples were collected across the continental shelf of the northern and northwestern Iberian Peninsula to study cetacean distribution and diversity.
EMPHATIC is funded through the BiodivMon 2022–2023 joint call of the European Biodiversa+ network, co-financed by the European Commission, the Fundación Biodiversidad (FB, Spain), the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal), the National Research Agency (ANR, France), and the Ministry of Universities and Research (MUR, Italy).