CIRCE, an entity for the Conservation, Information and Study of Cetaceans, with the support of the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment, has launched a project that focuses on the implementation of a conservation plan for the orca in the south of the peninsula. The central action of the initiative is to improve knowledge about the management unit of the orcas of the Strait of Gibraltar and their natural habitat.

The objective is to know the distribution of the orca population in the Natura 2000 Network during this year. To that end, they will implement seven satellite markers to track the movements of cetaceans. Another objective of the project is to update the information available on the species in the Gulf of Cadiz and the Strait of Gibraltar until 2015, to carry out a national identification catalogue of the killer whale and to evaluate possible exchanges of special distribution. All the information will be included in a web platform for consulting the Mediterranean cetacean identification catalogues.

The initiative also contemplates delving into the threats faced by the species and determining what its possible conservation measures could be. The actions of the project will make it possible to draw maps of the distribution of orcas throughout the year and to know updated biological parameters and social structure of the species, in addition to delving into the diet of these animals. The star result of the project is the creation of a catalogue for the identification of killer whales at the national level, which will strengthen actions to protect the species.