WCC 2020 Res 022 - Activity Report

As the actual MoU which puts in place the Moratorium includes a clause to extend it in case that the presence of Cuvier’s beaked whales is detected out of the actual zone (50 miles off the Canary Islands), a mission with an oceanic glider is being conducted to record with Passive Acoustic Monitoring the presence of cetaceans 60 miles west off the Canaries. The glider will return by the end of July to El Hierro and one of the priorities in the data analysis will be trying to find the presence of Cuvier’s beaked whales and present the results In October in the parallel events at the European Parliament. The extension of the SONAR moratorium which is the goal of the resolution will be promoted at the Exhibition in the European Parliament with the proposal to create a Marine Biodiversity Sanctuary in the Macaronesia.

- Addressed the Spanish Minister of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge who expressed her support for the proposal and mentioned that it would be interesting when the UN’s Intergovernmental Conference on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction;
- Addressed by letter the Spanish Minister of Defence who declined the idea of expanding the SONAR moratorium.