Pelagos Discovery
Life-size Mediterranean cetaceans, at the port of Bordighera, Italy
Overview
Status: Completed
Topics: Public Awareness
Start date: 07/05/2023
End date: 07/05/2024
Parent project: CSR
Project website:
Funding institutions: Confcommercio
Target species: Cetaceans
Tethys role: Sub-contractor
Project leader: Confcommercio
Project manager for Tethys: Sabina Airoldi
Project partners: Municipality of Bordighera
Project subcontractors:
Project staff: Maddalena Jahoda
Project other staff: Claudia Roggero (CR&A Officina), Myriam El Assil (graphic), Promo&Grahics srl Di Vergani A. & C., Massimo Demma (drawings), Stefano Albis SEA (web design)
Milestone project:
Detailed description
Inaugurated in spring 2023, at the tourist port of Bordighera, “Pelagos Discovery” is a striking open-air installation developed with the scientific supervision and collaboration of the Tethys Research Institute.
This permanent exhibition, initiated by the Municipality of Bordighera in cooperation with local trade associations and promoted by Confcommercio, features life-size silhouettes of the eight cetacean species commonly found in the Mediterranean Sea: fin whale, sperm whale, Cuvier’s beaked whale, long-finned pilot whale, striped dolphin, common dolphin, Risso’s dolphin, and bottlenose dolphin.
Displayed along the outer breakwater, each silhouette is paired with an information panel in italian, french and english, enriched with infographics and photos. The layout leads visitors from the most coastal species—the bottlenose dolphin—to the more pelagic ones, such as the fin whale. For the two largest species, the fin whale and sperm whale, juvenile individuals are depicted due to space limitations.
The silhouettes are based on the renowned and widely adopted drawings by Massimo Demma. Texts were authored by Sabina Airoldi and Maddalena Jahoda of the Tethys Institute, respectively director of the Cetacean Sanctuary Research project and science communication lead.