Society for Marine Mammalogy

Hi everyone:

Here with an update on some Society business…

I’m still receiving lots of very positive feedback from the Quebec Biennial – thanks again to Mike, Veronique, Robert and their colleagues for hosting such a polished, efficient and enjoyable meeting.  Almost 1700 individuals attended the meeting – a great turnout.  I thought the quality of both poster and oral presentations was excellent.  And thanks to all the sponsors for their generous financial support.

At the Members Meeting in Quebec City we acknowledged several Board members whose terms are ending – now I must add another name to that list.   Steve Swartz, who has been the Society’s Treasurer since 2005, has decided to step down prior to the spring election.  I’d like to thank Steve for his tireless dedication and service to the Society and for ensuring that our financial outlook is still healthy, even in these uncertain times.  In addition to his day-to-day work for the Society, Steve helped us to navigate the move to e-commerce and managed the finances of several Biennial meetings.  Steve, you will be missed.

Given Steve’s departure, we are now looking for other individuals to run for election as Treasurer.  If you are interested in the position, please contact either Ailsa Hall, Chair of our Nominations and Elections Committee (ajh7@st-andrews.ac.uk) or me (aread@duke.edu).

Our Presidential Letter on western gray whales is in the proverbial mail and will be posted on the Society’s web site.  I have had correspondence with a few Society members regarding other Presidential letters, including some of those mentioned at the Members Meeting.  If you believe that the Society should weigh in on an important conservation issue regarding marine mammals, please contact me and we can consider the possibility of a Presidential letter.

Following a suggestion from Barb Taylor at the Members Meeting, the Board has agreed to form an Ad-Hoc Committee on Marine Mammal Taxonomy.  Bill Perrin has kindly agreed to chair this Committee.  The first charge of the committee will be to review the current list of marine mammal species names.  The committee will post appropriate and accepted names on the website, and will maintain and update this list.

In closing, I’d like to wish everyone a safe, relaxing and enjoyable holiday season.