News

Tribute to Gianni Pavan – a passionate and committed conservation scientist

May 30, 2023

OceanCare is mourning the loss of a brave friend of the whales and dolphins and all marine wildlife, and a passionate and committed conservation scientist: Gianni Pavan was only 62 when he tragically lost his life after a car accident on May 26.

Gianni Pavan was a pioneer in bioacoustics research, a professor of bioacoustics at the University of Pavia in Italy and internationally renowned in the field of marine bioacoustics and cetacean acoustics.

Gianni was well known to many of us at OceanCare. We worked with him for about two decades on the mitigation of anthropogenic underwater noise pollution. He was instrumental in drafting the very first Guidelines to address the impact of anthropogenic noise on marine mammals in the ACCOBAMS area, which were adopted in 2006. He worked towards the implementation of mitigation measures with NATO and the oil and gas Industry. He was one of the authors of the first Noise Hotspot Report in the ACCOBAMS area and, as a member of the Joint Noise Working Group, Gianni provided expert advice to many of the tasks of the group workplan and associated consultations.

When OceanCare organised a workshop on the impacts of underwater noise in south-eastern European waters in Split, Croatia in 2017, Gianni provided expert guidance and was essential in making it a success.

Gianni was a wonderful, gentle, and warm-hearted man with a deep love for the ocean and marine wildlife. His brilliant conservation mind will be sorely missed by us and many others. We will continue his legacy to quieten the oceans to facilitate the communication of cetaceans and other marine creatures.

Gianni is irreplaceable, he will be hugely missed.

OceanCare sends condolences to his wife and three children, his colleagues, his students, and all of his friends.