L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2016 www.italoamericano.org 6 A re you familiar with those hardcore conservation- ists, paladins of our beau- tiful planet and its amazing vari- ety of animals and plants, the likes of British primatologist J a n e G o o d a l l , l a t e F r e n c h o c e a n o g r a p h e r J a c q u e s C o u s t e a u , I n d i a n a c t i v i s t Vandana Shiva, or American former Vice President Al Gore? Despite numerically UK and US have the largest number of worldwide recognized ecolo- gists, Italy has at least a few, that are worth mentioning here: L a t e L a u r a C o n t i , w i d e l y r e g a r d e d a s " t h e m o t h e r o f Italian environmentalism" and co-founder of Legambiente - Italian environmentalist associa- tion in the wake of late '70s's anti-nuclear movement. Luigi Boitani - Professor of A n i m a l E c o l o g y a n d C o n s e r v a t i o n B i o l o g y a t t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f R o m e – i s a world's leading wolf expert, as well as serving in the Board of several international conserva- tionist organizations. Fulco Pratesi, co-founder and current honorary President of WWF (World Wide Fund For Nature) – Italy's Chapter. To this – only partial – list, we need to add marine biologist, Maddalena Bearzi, an harmo- nious blend of Cousteau's zest for adventure and exploration with Boitani's expertise and d e d i c a t i o n t o a m a m m a l i a n species over the others - in her case, dolphins, particularly the p o p u l a t i o n s i n h a b i t i n g t h e waters of the Santa Monica Bay. I n 1 9 9 8 , M a d d a l e n a c o - founded and currently chairs the Ocean Conservation Society, key organization in preserving SoCal's fragile oceanic ecosys- tems. B e a r z i i s a l s o a w r i t e r a t heart, who has been communi- cating her unwavering ecologi- cal passion and love for the sea life to her readers, through hun- dreds of articles on nature, con- servation and eco-tourism for major international outlets, as well as two fascinating English books, with a third in the works. Please, introduce yourself. What's your cultural back- ground, including education? M y n a m e i s M a d d a l e n a Bearzi and I am a marine biolo- gist as well as a book author. I'm co-founder, President and Research Director of the Ocean C o n s e r v a t i o n S o c i e t y , t h a t serves in particular the Santa Monica Bay. I have a Bachelor Degree in N a t u r a l S c i e n c e f r o m t h e University of Padua, Italy, a P h D i n B i o l o g y a n d a P o s t d o c t o r a l f e l l o w s h i p i n Education from UCLA. I have also worked as a photo-journal- ist for over 25 years. How did you develop your passion for nature and marine ecology, in particular? S i n c e I w a s a c h i l d , I ' v e always been passionate about nature. I spent many summers camped out with my parents and older brother in a remote site in Sardinia. It's there that I had an early chance to get in contact with the sea and its inhabitants. Initially, I was interested in all sort of creatures: snakes, geckos, birds, tortoises. I grew up in a succession of Italian cities, so I couldn't spend all my time near the w ater. M y Bachelor's thesis, for instance, dealt with the home range and behavior of a species of lizard found in a natural reserve in Tuscany, and not with marine creatures. I then started investigating s e a t u r t l e s i n t h e Y u c a t a n Peninsula, Mexico and - gradu- ally climbing up the evolution- ary scale - my interest shifted to dolphins and whales, which I studied off the coast of Mexico, i n t h e C a r i b b e a n a n d M e d i t e r r a n e a n S e a s f o r t h e I t a l i a n T e t h y s R e s e a r c h Institute. Later on, I was lucky enough to investigate these magnificent marine mammals in other parts o f t h e w o r l d , i n c l u d i n g o f f California. How was your adjusting process, once you relocated from Italy to the Los Angeles area? About twenty years ago, I m o v e d h e r e w i t h m y t h e n American boyfriend and now husband Charlie. At first, it was challenging to adjust because I spoke German and Spanish, but not a single word of English. A y e a r a f t e r m o v i n g t o Southern California, however, I started my PhD at UCLA, so I was forced to learn the language well and quite quickly. Sailing with my husband in the Pacific Ocean, I realized that nobody had ever conducted a long-term study on the popu- lations of marine mammals liv- ing in the Santa Monica Bay a n d s u r r o u n d i n g a r e a s . T h e " m e t r o p o l i t a n " d o l p h i n s o f f L.A. became the main focus of my Ph.D. thesis, and also of my non-profit Ocean Conservation Society. At the same time, I was free- lancing about travel and nature for different Italian magazines, so I had the chance to travel extensively across California. Traveling also helped me to bet- ter know this country and learn the language. In 1996, you founded and start leading the Los Angeles Dolphin Project. What was that about? Initially, the project aimed at identifying the various species of marine mammals living off the greater Los Angeles shore- l i n e . I s t u d i e d d i s t r i b u t i o n , abundance, behavior and inter- action among different species of whales, dolphins and pin- nipeds such as sea lions and harbor seals. W i t h t i m e , t h e p r o j e c t became complex and more con- servation-oriented. Research was not enough, since those ani- mals needed help. For instance, we pioneered the study of skin diseases in the populations of coastal bottlenose dolphins off California and the p o s s i b l e r e p e r c u s s i o n s o n human health, as we both eat the same fish. We have also been carrying out campaigns to warn about the disturbance that we human often cause to these animals. In 1998, you co-founded the Ocean Conservation Society, of w h i c h y o u ' r e c u r r e n t l y P r e s i d e n t . W h i c h a r e t h e a c c o m p l i s h m e n t s , o v e r t h e years, that you're most proud of? I am proud of the work of our research and conservation orga- nization. Our research dataset e n c o m p a s s e s a l m o s t t w o decades in this area, and we are among the few long-term con- tinuous investigations on marine mammals existing worldwide! As I mentioned earlier, we at OCS were, for instance, the first team in the West Coast to dis- cover the presence of skin dis- eases and physical deformities in the local populations of dol- phins. The presence of these dis- eases is increasing in recent years and it's related to man- made pollutants in our waters. Partly due to my journalistic b a c k g r o u n d , I ' m a l s o h a p p y about the books that I have writ- ten (and the one in the works), as they highlight the beauty of these animals, but also the prob- lems that they are facing today. I spend lots of time giving talks about dolphins and whales and the need to protect them. I n b o t h o f m y b o o k s "Beautiful Minds: The Parallel L i v e s o f G r e a t A p e s a n d Dolphins" – co-authored with Primatologist Craig Stanford – for Harvard University Press ( 2 0 0 8 ) , a n d " D o l p h i n Confidential: Confessions of a Field Biologist" - for Chicago U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s ( 2 0 1 2 ; t h i s book just came out in paperback this month), aside from what I learned through my research, I talk on a more personal level about the importance of protect- ing marine mammals. M y b l o g p o s t s f o r t h e National Geographic - Ideas and Insight from Explorers - share the same purpose of rais- ing awareness, along with giv- ing practical tips. A n d w h i c h a r e t h e m o s t impelling challenges, you're currently facing? There are two big challenges. The first is to keep our non- p r o f i t O c e a n C o n s e r v a t i o n Society alive. We always strive to get donations and support to carry on our long-term research and conservation projects. If anyone is interested in seeing what we do and help here is the site: www.oceanconservation. org. The second challenge is to raise awareness on the environ- mental issues affecting these a n i m a l s a n d , m a i n l y , b r i n g change. We always feel like our moving forward involves at the same time steps backwards, as our oceans are in an increasing state of ecological emergency. W h a t f a s c i n a t e s y o u t h e most about dolphins? Dolphins are large brained and social complex creatures. It's certainly fascinating the extent in which these sea mam- m a l s a r e s i m i l a r t o u s a s I explained in both of my books. It's wonderful to spend so much time close to them at sea and to w i t n e s s h o w i n t e l l i g e n t a n d emotional they are, from the care by a mother towards her calf, to an individual grieving over the death of another. I've been observing them for twenty-five years and I never get tired of looking at them and learning new aspects of their complex behavior. Are you in contact with the L.A. based Italian-American community? Are you member of any organization? I've attended some events at the Italian Cultural Institute of L.A. and I even spoke there as a guest lecturer, a long while ago. Veering off from my profes- sional interests, I also took part to an Italian Festival a couple of years ago, only this time as a jewelry designer. My organic jewelry takes, of course, inspira- tion from nature. Maddalena Bearzi and her mission to protect SoCal dolphins LOS ANGELES ITALIAN COMMUNITY Marine Biologist Maddalena Bearzi. Photo Courtesy of M. Bearzi VALERIO VIALE

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