Society for Marine Mammalogy

The IUCN Cetacean Specialist Group has just launched a new website.

The site provides information on the role of the group and details of its members. It gives up-to-date summary information on the red list status of each cetacean. News items highlighting the redlisting of new species or populations, or updates to old listings make it easy to keep track of new developments.

There are also summaries of conservation and research special projects that the group is closely involved with such as the Mekong Irrawaddy dolphin, the Western Gray Whale and the Vaquita.

Finally, the site has many different reports for download that were produced from workshops or meetings that the CSG was associated with.

News items on many different topics of cetacean conservation interest are posted regularly... Please come and visit us at www.iucn-csg.org.

We received a response to our letter regarding Irrawaddy dolphins in the Mekong River of Cambodia:

Dr. Randall Wells
President
The Society for Marine Mammalogy

Dear Dr. Randall Wells,

Thank you very much for your support letter to our commitment in Kratie Declaration on the Conservation of the Mekong River dolphins dated on 21 Fbruary, 2012 representing of 1,963 scientists and student members of the Society for Marine Mammalogy. On behalf of all the member of the Commission for Conservation and Development of the Mekong River Dolphin Eco-tourism Zone, the river guards and local communities living along side of the dolphin habitat, I would like to pay my compliment to you and your effort to help improve our partnership for conservation the endangered Mekong River dolphin species through the valuable recommendation on the last day of the critical Kratie workshop. As committed to the Declaration and Recommendation of the Workshop, the Commission, WWF and the FiA had started to implement the activities recommended one by one. As such one qualified veterinarian was already recreated to do field work with Garry and other Cambodian scientists and the remote biopsy sampling is under the process for obtaining the government permission. The latter one is expected to get approval from the government soon. On the other hand, the draft of the a sub-decree on the establishment of the dolphin conservation zone was successfully passed the final debate before submitting to the Council of Minister Meeting on Friday 23, March 2012. Hope it will be alright.

Once again I would to thank you for your support to three organizations that work on the same goal for sustaining ths endangered species.

Hope to meet you again during the next workshop.

Yours sincerely,

Touch Seang Tana

The 2012 update of the SMM list of marine mammal species and subspecies is out.

Changes include elevation of the Bolivian boto from subspecies to species status as Inia boliviensis and addition of the Peruvian fur seal as an un-named subspecies of Arctophoca australis. The recently described Burrunan dolphin, Tursiops australis, of southern Australia is not included, as validity of the species is uncertain.

Northwest Student Chapter for the Society of Marine Mammalogy
16th Annual Chapter Meeting

5th May 2012
University of British Columbia, Vancouver

Deadline for presenters: April 15
Deadline for non-presenters: April 30

Register today!

Friday and Saturday, April 27-28, 2012
Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida

Abstract Submission Deadline: April 17, 2012
Registration Deadline: April 20, 2012

Read more about the symposium.