OBlu Internship

During my time with Sant'Anna Insitute, I was given the opportunity to work with OBlu and UNIMARE, marine organizations focused on supporting conservation through research and education at the Punta Campanella marine protected area.

With my supervisor, Domenico Sgambati, I work primarily on a Blenning Monitoring Project and travel to Irenati Bay to assist in the upkeep of the marine protected area through boat monitoring, litter pick-up, and outreach presentations.

Project Plan

During my time in Ireanto Bay, I will be working on a variety of projects including Blenning Survey Monitoring, Sea Turtle Nesting, Ecotourism, and Education. One of the main projects I will be working on is the Blenning population surveying, which consists of surveying twice a day to record the population quantity of Blennings in the bay. These are keystone species, which help us to understand ecosystem health and how environmental and human impacts influence the marina.

Approach: Conducted surveys twice a day, for a minimum of 2 days a week for a total of 5 weeks of the internship.

Stakeholder: These surveys will be used by the Marine Biology and Project managers at Ireanto Bay for monitoring and ecosystem health evaluation of the marine protected area.

Challenges: Weather conditions will be the main challenge for surveying.

Desired Results: Collect a total of 10 surveys for each of the little and big bay of Ireanto.

SMART Goals

Goal 1

Benning Monitoring Project

Collect a minimum of 5 benning monitoring surveys between the little and big bay of Baia di Ireanto by August 3rd, 2024.

Goal 2

Sea Turtle Nesting Monitoring

Spend a minimum of 3 days at the beach site monitoring Sea Turtle Nesting by August 3rd, 2024.

Goal 3

Presentations

Develop and present 2 presentations based on my internship responsibilies within Ireanto Bay and the Benning Monitoring Project.

Ieranto Bay

In Irenato Bay, I am responsible for monitoring of boating activity in the big and small bays, informing unauthorized vehicles that they are unable to enter the yellow zone marine protected area.

Blenning Monitoring

Conduct 2 daily snorkeling surveys of blenning populations in the small bay as a part of a research project looking into biodiversity in Ireanto's small bay.

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Marine Turtle Nesting Monitoring

Day and night monitoring of turtle nesting in Camerota, recording of nests and hatching for yearly monitoring project during hatching season.

Ecotourism

Creating and translating user manual ecotourism tools for the public as communication resources to be used as presentations for visitors and student groups visiting the bay.

Bianca Ruiz