CIRCE was a beneficiary of the 2017 Call for Grants with the CETAPROT project, to improve the analysis of cetaceans in the Alboran Sea. The result of the consolidation of the methodologies of the previous CETASUR project has made it possible to create collaborations between researchers and public administrations to facilitate the study of these species within the European framework.

CIRCE was a beneficiary in the 2017 Call for Grants with the project “CETAPROT, towards a harmonization of protocols for the research and evaluation of impacts on cetaceans”. Its purpose is to lay the foundations for protocols for the investigation and evaluation of the impacts of human activities on cetacean populations in Spain.

CETAPROT is the continuation of the “CETASUR” project, developed in 2014, for the identification of cetaceans in the South of the Alboran Sea. With the continuation of the activities, the aim has been to take a further step in the methodologies of study and analysis of cetaceans. Collaboration networks have been created between researchers, public administrations and interest groups, to apply the different methodologies and protocols in European research. In addition, an online database structure has been built, which is available to any researcher who is willing to include their data under Common Creative licenses.

Both the database structure and the CIRCE data have been made available via the web. Raw photographs and catalogues of cetacean species, prepared so far, have been included. Throughout 2019, protocols have been established to be able to use the database and its content, within the framework of specific collaborations with each of the research groups. All this has allowed the inventories of habitats and species of the marine Natura 2000 Network to be updated.

The fundamental objective of CETAPROT is to provide public administrations with a point of union that allows them to interpret and use scientific data, and that these are used from a management point of view, through a harmonization of research protocols.