The Mediterranean Action Plan secretariat, in co-operation with national experts and international organisations has prepared an Action Plan for the conservation of cetaceans in the Mediterranean Sea. The Contracting Parties adopted the Action Plan at their seventh Ordinary Meeting (Cairo, October 1991), and mandated the meeting of the National Focal Points for Specially Protected Areas to further elaborate it for implementation.

The Meeting of the National Focal Points for Specially Protected Areas (Athens, October 1992) adopted a series of additional points for the implementation of the Action Plan, which have been annexed to it and will be considered as an integral part of it.

• The Action Plan (in pdf format).
• Guidelines for the Development of National Networks of Cetacean Strandings Monitoring.
• Guidelines for Commercial Cetacean-Watching Activities in the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea and Contiguous Atlantic Area.
• Mediterranean Database of Cetacean Strandings (MEDACES).

Research cruise for the observation, identification and distribution of cetaceans in the Eastern Mediterranean

Within the framework of the implementation of the “Action Plan for the Conservation of Cetaceans in the Mediterranean Sea”, RAC/SPA co-organized with the Turkish Ministry of Environment and Forestry and the Faculty of Fisheries of the Istanbul University, a research cruise for the observation, identification and distribution of cetaceans in the Eastern Mediterranean (July 5^th to 25^th, 2008). The expedition permitted also collecting new data on the protection of poorly known and less studied marine organisms of the Eastern Mediterranean area. It was carried out on board of the Istanbul University’s research vessel “R/V Yunus-S”.

Eighth European Seminar on Marine Mammals: Biology and Conservation. Valencia (Spain), September 13^th - 17^th 2010.

RAC/SPA contributed to the organization of the Eighth European Seminar on biology and conservation of marine mammals, held in Valencia (Spain) from September the 13^th to 17^th 2010. The Seminar, convened by the International University Mendez Pelayo, aimed at improving capacities on cetacean conservation issues. (For further information)