ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING PROGRAM FOR CRITICAL HABITATS - BIODIVERSITY

Environmental Baseline

Biodiversity Report 2020

In the context of Environmental Monitoring and Recording of Critical Environmental Indicators of Biodiversity, such as marine mammals (cetaceans and monk seals), sea turtles and seabirds, HELLENIC PETROLEUM N.W. PELOPONNISOS EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION OF HYDROCARBONS SINGLE MEMBER S.A. has assigned to the company Nature Conservation Consultants (NCC) Ltd to conduct the present Project, namely the “Survey of the Status of Important Fauna Species in the Kyparissiakos Lease area” (Block 10).

The Project consists of 4 work packages (WP):

WP I: Pelagic survey for marine turtles – seals – cetaceans and seabirds at sea with research vessels and ultralight aircraft in order to establish the presence status and abundance of marine species at sea
WP II: Coastal surveys for monk seal’s pupping sites and seabirds breeding sites in the coastal zones of the adjacent Natura 2000 sites, including mapping the existence of marine caves, appropriate terrestrial habitats and refuges of the Mediterranean Monk seal, as well as recording of their features and environmental characteristics, assessment of the possible use of the refuges by Monk Seal, assessment of sites and populations of seabirds, such as Mediterranean Shag and Scopoli’s Shearwater and, assessment of the conservation status of breeding seabirds in the vicinity of the Kyparissiakos Lease area and identify existing and potential threats
WP III: Telemetry of marine turtles, including tagging sea turtles with satellite transmitters and attachment of flipper tags in order to carry out post-nesting tracking of breeding turtles and tracking of turtles found inside block 10, and to carry out aerial surveys using drones or ultralight aircraft to determine distribution and density.
WP IV: Telemetry of Scopoli’s Shearwaters breeding on Strofades islets, using GPS/GSM transmitters, in order to monitoring movements of birds in the region, establish movement patterns dueing egg laying, chick rearing and late chick rearing periods, determine the patterns of the species’ space use in the Kyparissiakos lease area, as well as surrounding areas and acquire additional information on the ecology and movements of the species.

The present report refers to the results of the field surveys that were carried out in the framework of work packages WP I and WP IV, carried out between May and September 2020.

In order to cover

the observations and recordings all year round, this Environmental Monitoring Program will continue during the year 2019, thus completing the following research work:

Systematic monitoring of the Mediterranean Monk seal at breeding sites in the wider area of research using an inflatable boat with two (2) field researchers and available infrared cameras.
Pelagic studies for marine mammals, seabirds and sea turtles in the wider area of the project using a research vessel. A field survey of seabirds, cetaceans and sea turtles using the available boat and hydrophones.
Study of seabird nests and telemetry in the wider area of research for locating nesting sites, estimating the breeding population size, monitoring the reproductive performance and applying the GPS telemetry for the Mediterranean Shag. The survey was carried out using inflatable boats and GPS-GSM telemetry transmitters, which were purchased as part of the project.
Study of seabird colonies (Scopolis, Shearwater, Yelkouan Shearwater and European Storm-petrel) in the wider area of the project. Field researchers using inflatable boats and available audio recording and thermal imaging equipment carried out this campaign.