Issues at the Society of Marine Mammalogy Biennial Conference (SMM15)

Holding up the Golden Gate Bridge

We love Drones!

So, this is the most enormous conference and a gathering of the marine mammal science superstars (and some other people). Over 2,300 have registered to attend and more are expected to sign up on the door.

We have already had two days of associated workshops. The three most popular were reported to be Unmanned Aerial Systems (drones), the Sirenian Syposium and Baleen Whale Migration. 

The important workshop on sea pens (retirement homes) for orcas was also very well attended and evidently very lively!

(I attended an IWC workshop on investigations into mass strandings and, yesterday, World Animal Protection's excellent 'Loose the Loop' workshop, which was focused on seal entanglement).

As we enter the main conference week, I am daunted as much of it will run in no less than five consecutive sessions. There will also be plenary sessions.

Some of the focuses here (from a review of the agenda) include trying to help the world;s most critically endangered cetacean, the vaquita. More about this HERE; there are also a number of sessions and presentations on Climate Change; and marine noise (more about this issue HERE) might be another major topic. Interestingly and by contrast there is very little about marine debris.

Other things to look out for here might include trying to spot Naomi Rose (the Erin Brockovich of the cetacean captivity issue) among all her fans (the Rosettes); whether Chris (ECM) Parsons will finally break the Guinness Book of Records record for the most tweets ever sent from a conference;how many scientists will sneak off to the Golden Gate bridge to view the harbour porpoise aerial sex show that is reported there (I have to say that I am quite surprised at the porpoises which I have always regraded as particularly undemonstrative animals, but then this is San Francisco) ; will shy conference workshop organising super-hero Frank Cipriano be forced onto a stage to accept the conference's thanks; and will we all get home for Christmas?

I'll do a little light reporting on this mega-event here.

The ear-breaking Icebreaker at the SMM - noise levels reached 95db

A banded plover in the mud near the Golden Gate Bridge