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According to the BDRI Association, the effects of climate change and human activities will have significant effects on marine biodiversity in Spain, especially on endangered species of a migratory nature, such as the fin whale and the fin whale, and on those ecosystems characterised by their rich biodiversity and great anthropic pressure, such as the Galician coast.

In this context, the BALAENATUR II project is of great importance in providing information on the relationship between environmental variables susceptible to climate change and the distribution and presence of whales in our waters. In addition, the results of this project provide data on the ecology of these species and, in particular, their relationship with climate. Essential information, according to the entity, to propose measures for species management plans, proposals for adaptation measures, and a diagnosis of the vulnerability to climate change of the species studied.

The general objective of the project has been to improve the necessary knowledge about the blue whale and other threatened whale species in Natura 2000 Network areas and to contribute to their conservation.

The specific objectives were as follows:

• Collect oceanographic data related to climate change and coastal upwelling phenomena (conditioning the presence of food for fin whales).
• To monitor endangered fin whales (blue, fin and northern fin whales) in Natura 2000 Network areas along the Galician coast.
• Analyze the data collected to associate the impact of environmental changes linked to climate change on the presence of whales.
• Provide information to managers and competent authorities in the field to facilitate the development of a whale recovery plan, as well as the proposal for management plans, diagnosis of the vulnerability of whales to climate change and proposal of adaptation measures.
• Involve citizens in whale conservation.

• Bibliographic review of recent scientific articles on the impact of climate change on oceanographic variables and whale distribution, and review and extraction of information derived from national and international databases , related to the environmental and oceanographic characteristics of the study area.
• Implementation and organization of sampling campaigns and design of the methodology to be followed during the campaigns.
• Conducting sampling campaigns of oceanographic variables and monitoring the distribution and presence of blue whales and other whale species inside and outside the Red Natura 2000 areas in the continental shelf of Galician waters.
• Processing of the samples and analysis of the data collected, to obtain information on the presence of whales in the 5 protected areas sampled, as well as in adjacent areas.
• Project dissemination and awareness-raising.

The Baelanatur II project has provided information on the possible annual increase in the number of blue whales(Balaenoptera musculus) in the waters of southern Galicia and the relationship between the presence of this species and different climatic variables.

Thus, within the framework of the project, 26 days of cetacean sampling were carried out along the continental shelf of the southern Galician coast. The sampling days were carried out between the months of March and October 2021 covering a total distance of 3,270 km. A total of 169 fin whales were sighted, of which 32 were blue whales, which has corroborated the annual increase in the presence of the species in the study area and, from its analysis, it has been possible to verify that there are three significant variables that condition this presence: water temperature, the different levels of chlorophyll and the slope of the seabed. As indicated by the entity, these data help to increase knowledge about the conservation status of the species and to promote the designation or expansion of new marine protected environments, the development of conservation plans and the application of management measures for human activities that interact with large cetaceans.

In fact, the results of the project provide, for the first time, specific information on the critical areas for the blue whale in the national territory and, in particular. In addition, the data of the last 5 years confirm that the southern waters of Galicia are an important feeding area and reinforce the need to take measures to conserve the species and its habitat, as well as measures to adapt human activities, in order to design future conservation plans. In addition to the blue whale, the entity has documented in recent years, on a more or less regular basis in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, other species of mysticetes, including the fin whale (Balaenoptera physallus), the minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata), the fin whale (Balaenoptera borealis) and the humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae).

For the development of activities related to sampling campaigns, sightings and data processing and analysis, we have been able to count on the collaboration of volunteers and university students duly trained by the entity, contributing to the increase of knowledge about these vulnerable species.

Finally, all the information on the results of the Balaenatur II project has been collected in a technical report, where proposals have also been made to managers and competent authorities to facilitate the development of a mysticet conservation plan and other management plans and adaptation measures. In this way, the report has been disseminated for the transfer of knowledge to different public and private entities, to competent authorities in the field, such as the Subdirectorate General for Terrestrial and Marine Biodiversity of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, and to the scientific community through the academic social network ResearchGate.