SMM 2015 - Rare sightings Wednesday

Another day when there were hundreds of presentations and posters to be viewed…. Overwhelming really!

I am not entirely ancient but I can remember a time when the impacts of noise, chemical pollution and climate change were not legitimate issues for study (so, for reference, I am looking back only some 20 years and I anticipate that younger readers will find this difficult to accept as true), here there are dozens of high quality presentations touching on these issues, and much more besides.

I will sample just a few highlights here:

Firstly, Lindsay Porter speaking about ‘The Indo-Pacific [pink] humpback dolphin and the Hong Kong Zuhai-Macao Bridge: building bridges between science and management’.  

Lindsay Porter 

The situation of this small population is truly remarkable their habitat is full of human activities, ships, construction discharges and such and it is remarkable that the population continues to survive. The bridge is the latest major construction project.

An Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin in mid-flight (photo Lindsay Porter)

A rare lunch-time sighting of Naomi Rose here with a fan (Naomi is on the left).

 In the afternoon plenary - a very rare sighjting of Professor Frank Cipriano - the shy geneticist and conference workshop coordinator, rocking an organge bow-tie. Frank introduced two outstanding speakers.

Beth Shapiro’s excellent (and very funny) talk on ancient DNA focused on the lineages of walruses and grey whales and considered how the very distant past informed what is happening on our rapidly changing planet. The walrus which comes in 2-3 sub-species is rather unique lacking close relatives and ice-loss bodes ill for it. The grey whale, by contrast has previously moved from the Pacific into the Atlantic at times of low ice (where is, of course, where we are going)…. So further to a couple of grey whales that have been reported in recent years in the Atlantic region (indeed off the coast of Israel in one remarkable case), we might expect to see more of the same.

Karina Acevedo-Whitehouse spoke on Novel tools and technologies in health assessment – explaining again the relevant of this to rapidly changing ecosystems. Droids. Of course, featured and sampling the blow (breath) of whales.

Key signage at the meeting

That bow-tie in detail.