There are three species of Cetacea (whales and dolphins) living in the Istanbul Strait, these are; Phocoena phocoena (Mutur) from the Phocoenidae family, Tursiops truncatus (Afalina) and Delphinus delphis (Tirtak) from the Delphinidae family. The Turkish Straits System (TSS) is recognized as an important migration route between the Aegean Sea and the Black Sea, and the movements of cetacea species associated with pelagic migratory fish species, especially in spring.

The passive acoustic monitoring method widely used in the world in monitoring cetaceans in recent years. With the support of the Japanese National Fisheries Research Institute and Istanbul University Faculty of Aquatic Sciences, the movements of cetaceans have been followed for 24 hours in the Istanbul Strait since 2009. In the study, the A-tag is used as a passive acoustic system, and cetacean sounds are recorded and analysed in the form of click train.

Publications and presentations

  • Dede, A., Amaha Öztürk, A., Akamatsu, T., Tonay, M.A., Öztürk, B. (2011) Long-term passive acoustic monitoring of the moving patterns of cetaceans in the Istanbul Strait. 25th Annual Conference of the European Cetacean Society, Cadiz, Spain, 21-23 March 2011.
  • Kameyama, S., Dede, A., Amaha Öztürk, A., Akamatsu, T., Tonay, M.A., Öztürk, B., Arai, N. (2012) Study of cetaceans in Istanbul Strait using passive acoustic method. 8th International Symposium on SEASTAR2000 and Asian Biologging Science (The 12th SEASTAR2000 workshop), Bangkok, Thailand, 20-21 February 2012 pp.27.
  • Akamatsu, T., Dede, A., Kameyama, S., Tonay, M.A., Amaha Öztürk, A., (2013) Passive acoustic monitoring of multiple cetacean species in the Istanbul Strait. Seventh Annual Meeting of Fisheries Acoustics Society, AFAS2013, Tokyo, Japan, 5-6 November 2013 pp.32.
  • Kameyama S., Akamatsu T., Amaha Öztürk A. , DedeA., Arai N. (2013) Quantitative family classification between Phocoenidae and Delphinidae using simple two-band ratio comparison. 6th International Workshop on Detection, Classification, Localization, & Density Estimation of Marine Mammals using Passive Acoustics, St Andrews, İngiltere, 12 – 15 June 2013, 10pp.
  • Kameyama S., Akamatsu T., Dede A., Amaha Öztürk A., Arai N. (2013). Difference of biosonar sound characteristics between cetacean species in the Istanbul Strait. 13th International Symposium on SEASTAR2000 and Asian Bio-logging Science, Kyoto, Japonya, 18 – 19 March 2013, 10pp.
  • Dede, A., Ozturk, A.A., Akamatsu, T., Tonay, A.M., Ozturk, B. (2014) Long-term passive acoustic monitoring revealed seasonal and diel patterns of cetacean presence in the Istanbul Strait Journal Of The Marine BiologicalAssociation of The United Kingdom 94: 1195-1202
  • Kameyama, S., Akamatsu, T., Dede, A., Amaha Öztürk, A., & Arai, N. (2014). Acoustic discrimination between harbor porpoises and delphinids by using a simple two-band comparison. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 136(2), 922-929.
  • Kameyama S., Amaha Öztürk A., Akamatsu T., Dede A. , Arai N. (2015) Fine scale habitat sharing between harbor porpoises and delphinids in the Istanbul Strait. 29th Annual Conf. European Cetacean Society, St Julian’S Bay, Malta, 23 – 25 March 2015, 110pp.
  • Dede, A., Akamatsu, T., Amaha Ozturk, A., Tonay, M.A., Kameyama, S., Öztürk, B. (2016) Passive acoustic monitoring of the cetaceans in the Istanbul Strait (2009-2016). 1. Ulusal Denizlerde İzleme ve Değerlendirme Sempozyumu, Ankara, Turkey, 21-23 December 2016 (in Turkish).
  • Dede, A., Akamatsu, T., Amaha Ozturk, A., Tonay, M.A., Kameyama, S. (2017) Seasonal and yearly fluctuation of cetacean presence in the Istanbul Strait based on passive acoustic monitoring between 2009-2016. 31st Annual Conference of the European Cetacean Society, Middelfart, Denmark, 29 April-3 May 2017 pp. 249.
  • Dede, A., Akamatsu, T., Amaha Öztürk, A., Kameyama, S., Tonay, M.A., Öztürk, B. (2018) A-tag usage in passive acoustic monitoring of cetaceans in Istanbul Strait. 1. Ulusal Denizel Biyoakustik Çalıştayı, Istanbul, Turkey, 11- 11 June 2018 1: 4-5.
  • Ozturk Amaha, A., Dede, A., Kameyama, S., Tonay, A.M., Akamatsu, T. (2019) Comparison of dolphin presence at two locations in the Istanbul Strait, Turkey, by the passive acoustic monitoring system. World Marine Mammals Conference, 9-12 December 2019, Barcelona, 678.