Ambar Elkartea: A Legacy in the Conservation of the Marine Fauna of the Basque Country
The society for the study and conservation of the marine fauna of the Basque Country, Ambar, was founded in 1998 by a group of biology students with a passion for the sea. Moved by the strandings occurring on our coasts, they realised that cetaceans inhabited the Basque coast. On finding dead specimens on the rocks and sandbanks, they decided to shed light on the scarce information available about these species. With scarce resources but great enthusiasm, they began to collect data, carrying out necropsies to extract the maximum information from the bodies found. They organised themselves to go to different capes in Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa, equipped with telescopes to record the sightings they could make from land. The diversity of animals they documented was astonishing: more than 20 different species of cetaceans! The opacity of our Bay of Biscay had kept this treasure hidden from the eyes of science.
Over the years, the NGO grew in both membership and relevance. In 2000, it began to collaborate in the Marinelife - Biscay Dolphin Research Programme on board the ferry that covered the Bilbao-Portsmouth route, obtaining a large amount of data that ed the importance of the Bay of Biscay for various species of marine mammals. He actively participated in the annual congresses of the Spanish Cetacean Society, organising the 2018 edition in Bilbao, and contributed to numerous scientific congresses and studies at national and international level.
Ambar established the stranding network of the Basque Country, funded since 2017 by the Basque Government. This network was composed of people trained by Ambar who resided on the Basque coast and went to stranding sites alerted by SOS Deiak (112). The intervention varied depending on whether the animals were alive or dead: in the first case, reintroduction to the sea was attempted if viable; in the second, Ambar's work consisted of advising various entities, compiling data and collecting samples. Subsequently, necropsies were carried out, for which, since 2015, there was an agreement with PiE, the Experimental Marine Biology and Biotechnology Research Centre of the UPV, which provided a space equipped for dissections. The samples obtained were donated to the centre's tissue biobank for further studies.
An official action protocol for strandings was designed and implemented and numerous training sessions were held for the general public and for specific groups that often encountered cetaceans before Ambar volunteers, such as surfers, fishermen and police and fire brigades. Throughout its history, Ambar has attracted people specialising in biology, veterinary science, environmental and marine sciences, as well as ocean lovers willing to contribute their time to the study and dissemination of the cetaceans of the Basque coast.
The association was always open to initiatives from any member, as long as they were in line with the founding objectives and there were people willing to carry them out. Thus, there were always opportunities to get involved. In addition to scientific activity, there was room for volunteers of other profiles to feel useful: organising exhibitions, attending strandings, collaborating in necropsies, guiding trips to the sea, carrying out censuses, managing the association's digital presence, attending to the media, giving talks and courses, carrying out administrative tasks, cleaning bones and many other actions related to the management of the association and raising awareness.
Ambar's main objective was to promote knowledge and interest in marine fauna. Within this framework, the activity that attracted the most participants was ‘Cetaceans at 10 o'clock’. Coordinated from Torre Madariaga, the biodiversity centre of the Basque Country, it was carried out in collaboration with the company Hegaluze. A boat designed specifically for whale watching set sail from Bermeo with volunteers from the association acting as guides, locating animals and recording the sightings. These trips were a success both in terms of sightings and in the appreciation of the participants, who were often amazed by the richness of the marine fauna of the Basque coast. Animal censuses and studies were also carried out, such as the photo-identification of bottlenose dolphin fins, which revealed that some herds were resident in our waters all year round. However, this activity was demanding, and its frequency required a commitment that was difficult for a group of volunteers to maintain. After 10 intense years, at the end of 2018, the association had to abandon these sighting campaigns.
La pandémie n'a pas non plus contribué à maintenir l'association active. L'annulation d'un deuxième projet de recherche prometteur sur les grands dauphins et le manque d'activité et de revenus ont entraîné une léthargie dont Ambar n'a pas pu sortir. En 2021, la Fondation pour la biodiversité du Ministère de la transition écologique et du défi démographique (MITECO) lance un appel à projets pour renforcer les réseaux d'échouage dans toutes les communautés autonomes, mais les exigences de l'appel à projets sont inatteignables pour l'association. En 2022, le PiE a repris la responsabilité du réseau d'échouage au Pays basque. Le travail avec les animaux échoués avait été le moteur de la survie de l'association, et avec le transfert du réseau, ce moteur s'est éteint. Ambar a ainsi perdu sa mission principale.
Tout au long de son histoire, jusqu'à deux personnes ont été employées simultanément pour mener à bien diverses tâches et études, bien qu'il s'agisse toujours d'une association sans but lucratif basée sur le bénévolat. Pour perdurer, une telle association a besoin d'un objectif commun et de membres motivés. La réduction des activités a sapé l'intérêt et l'implication des membres, ce qui a entraîné une diminution des activités, créant ainsi un cycle qui a fini par étouffer Ambar.
Malgré cela, il est important de noter que le travail bénévole effectué par Ambar a été exceptionnel et a comblé un vide que personne d'autre n'était prêt à combler. La réaction des membres à la décision de dissolution a été empreinte de tristesse, mais aussi de satisfaction pour le travail important accompli et de gratitude pour tout ce que l'association leur a permis d'apprendre et d'apprécier. Ils sont rassurés par le fait qu'une grande partie de leur travail a été repris par des entités publiques et privées qui le poursuivront. Le travail qu'ils ont accompli ne sera pas perdu. Ambar a été la référence basque dans le domaine des mammifères marins et son héritage perdurera. Les données compilées au cours de près de 30 ans d'étude sont disponibles pour ceux qui souhaitent y accéder via la plateforme opendata.euskadi.eus.
Ambar Elkartea est dissoute après avoir transféré une partie de ses activités à d'autres organisations.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)