Approximately 1500 marine mammal scientists and students from around the world are meeting over the next five days during this international conference. The meeting provides an opportunity to hear about the latest developments in the field of marine mammal research.
Among the conference posters being represented through WDCS’s support and direct involvement include presentations at the meetings always-anticipated “video night” profiling our humpback whale research work in the Turks and Caicos (http://uk.wdcs.org/fieldblog/); orca research on populations in the Russian Far East through our FEROP initiative (Far East Russian Orca Project-www.russianorca.com/Project/project_eng.htm ); and the Dolphin SMART voluntary recognition and awareness program in the southeastern United States (www.dolphinsmart.org).
The conference provides an opportunity to present recent findings, and to discuss approaches to improve conservation efforts for these large mammals that are also of significant interest to the public. The science presentations will touch on several themes including behavior, physiology, genetics, distribution and abundance, communication and evolution. Presentations will also look at contaminants, health concerns and the impacts of human interactions on a variety of marine mammal species. Scientists will also have the opportunity to participate in issue-specific workshops and debate conservation measures and regulations that contribute to the protection of our ocean giants.
See http://www.marinemammalscience.org for more information and daily media updates directly from the Conference.