<p>&#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; The quality of the Black Sea ecosystem is partly but importantly dependent on the survival and sustainability of the top predator populations. It is difficult to foresee all consequences for the regional biodiversity if cetaceans disappear as it had happened with the Mediterranean monk seals in the past. During 7 days, between 30 September and 7 October, 2019, a joint oceanographical survey was made with a multipurpose R/V Mare Nigrum in offshore as well as deep sea locations, within the Romanian (RO), Bulgarian (BG) and western Turkish (TK) national waters of the Black Sea in the frame of ANEMONE project. The total track line was around 700 nautical miles and the sampled area covered 9754,58 km<sup>2</sup>. Observations were made of cetaceans and floating litter, following line transect sampling method, with a single platform (2 observers, on the left and right of the vessel bridge) over 380.44 km of transects. A total of 54 cetacean sightings and 81 floating litter items were recorded. All the three species, short-beaked common dolphin (<em>Delphinus delphis</em> ssp. <em>ponticus</em>), Black Sea bottlenose dolphin (<em>Tursiops truncatus</em> ssp. <em>ponticus</em>), and Black Sea harbour porpoise (<em>Phocoena phocoena </em>ssp. <em>relicta</em>), were registered with a similar density (individuals/km<sup>2</sup>), 0.012 for RO sector and 0.013 for BG-TK sector. The number of debris varied between 1 and 24 items, reaching 5.26&#177; 5.93 items on average. Among the transects, 53% contained less than 5 items and only 13% were with more than 10 items. Based on these results, the average density of floating macro-litter in BG waters was found 2.43 &#177; 2.4 items/km<sup>2</sup>, 1.73 &#177; 1.24 items/km<sup>2 </sup>in the RO waters and 2.43&#177;2.17 items/km<sup>2</sup> in TR waters. This study was the first to make a joint and continuous survey effort for both cetaceans and litter simultaneously in the Black Sea.</p><p><strong>Key words:</strong>&#160; Black Sea, cetaceans, marine litter, joint cruise, ANEMONE project.</p>
Implants and biomaterials used in hard and soft oral tissue augmentation are very complex, but predictable to use nowadays, as the technological advances haven�t skipped this field of medicine. Cases that were impossible to treat with implant retained fixed prosthesis some years ago, have become the daily practice of oral surgeons and dentists around the world. The new user-friendly products, together with simplified protocols, increased the practitioners� predictability and success rate, thus the biomaterial industry took a huge leap forward. As the biomaterial industry keeps developing continuously, making better and safer products, the surgical and prosthetic protocols evolve and change as well. On this matter, the implant placement has become safer, using digital surgical guides. Guided implant placement doesn�t just allow the practitioner place the implant in the patient�s bone, but, moreover, it helps him place it in the correct, 3D, prosthetic position. And, thus, guiding the future bone augmentation and regeneration as well, accordingly. So, the implant placement has shifted from bone-orientated to prosthetic-orientated, offering at the same time a better primary stability for the implants, due to the prior planning. The present clinical study aims to analyze the outcome of the digital guided protocol. Unlike the free-handed surgery, the digital guided surgery allows dentists and oral surgeons to place implants according to the future prosthetic position of the crowns, even in conditions of alveolar ridges with bone resorption. Moreover, it makes possible the �one day implant� concept, the dental technician being able to create the provisional crown/s in advance, knowing precisely the future position of the implant placement. So, at the time of the surgery, the provisional crown is also put in place, guiding the soft and hard tissue healing and also giving the patient a greater satisfaction.
Incidental catch in fishing gear (often known as bycatch) is a major mortality factor for the Black Sea harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena relicta), an endemic subspecies listed as Endangered in the IUCN Red List. The primary gear, responsible for porpoise bycatch in the Black Sea are bottom gillnets and trammel nets targeting turbot (Scophthalmus spp.), the most valuable commercial fish species in the Black Sea. From 2019 to 2021, a study was conducted in Bulgaria, Romania, Türkiye and Ukraine, to estimate the bycatch level in light of new information on porpoise distribution and abundance obtained from aerial surveys (CeNoBS) undertaken in 2019 as part of ACCOBAMS Survey Initiative (ASI). Bycatch data were collected by independent observers onboard turbot fishing boats (Bulgaria and Romania), complemented by questionnaire surveys and examination of stranded carcasses (in all countries). Some 48 monitoring trips took place (63 hauls by 11 different vessels). Cetaceans were caught on just over half of the trips (55%): 182 harbour porpoises, 4 bottlenose dolphins and 3 common dolphins. The median number of porpoises bycaught per trip was 1 (maximum 41) and the number of porpoises per km of net varied between 0 and 3.66 (median 0.1). Bycatch rates showed seasonal variation with marked increase in summer, compared to spring. The total annual bycatch of harbour porpoises in the Black Sea was roughly estimated as between 11 826 and 16 200 individuals. These numbers were the product of median values for effort (days/trips and vessels) and bycatch rate. Given the new estimates of porpoise abundance based on the CeNoBS survey of 2019 and reconciling abundance and bycatch estimates, harbour porpoise bycatch in the Black Sea represents between 4.6% - 17.2% of the estimated total population, depending on assumptions used. Even the most conservative estimate is among the highest worldwide and far exceeds the probable sustainable levels of around 1.0-1.7%. This study confirms that bycatch poses the most serious threat to the Black Sea harbour porpoises and that all riparian countries engaged in turbot fisheries must implement urgent measures to reduce it immediately, if the population is to survive in the long-term.
"The vulnerability of the ecosystem, and mostly the Black Sea marine ecosystem, to human pressures is advisable to be assessed through indicators. Either we are speaking about human pressure or fauna and flora species, one of these indicators are filled by the marine mammal populations. Long-lived, slow-reproducing dolphins and porpoises are already recommended world-wide. During ANEMONE project we were able to perform several vessel surveys along the 12 NM area of Romanian Black Sea, between Sulina (northern border city) and Vama Veche (southern border village). The surveys were performed following distance sampling line transect methods and analyzed with Distance 7.3. software. The data were collected during spring 2019, summer 2019 and spring-summer 2020 and brings in discussion the status of the three cetacean species, abundance and distribution, in light of the latest research, and regional context, compared to the 2013 (""Adverse fisheries impacts on Cetacean population in the Black Sea"" under the European Commission's ""Studies for Carrying out the Common Fisheries Policy"" research programme) and 2019 (CeNoBS: ""Support MSFD implementation in the Black Sea through establishing a regional monitoring system of cetaceans (D1) and noise monitoring (D11) for achieving GES"") survey results. The article reveals the results of these efforts and discusses the present situation of the two cetacean families present in the Romanian coastal waters. Key-Words: dolphins, porpoises, abundance, distribution, seasons "
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