The results of the recent ballot for the new members of the Board of Governors of the Society for Marine Mammalogy were:

• President-elect: Nick Gales
• Treasurer: Jim Harvey
• Secretary: Heather Koopman
• Member at Large: Simon Northridge
• Student Member at Large: Coralie D'Lima
  (the members approved adding a second Student Member at Large, on a staggered term – a separate election for this position will take place in a few months)
• Honorary Members: Bob Brownell and Mike Fedak

Congratulations to the newly elected Board members, whose terms will begin on 1 July 2012, under the leadership of incoming President Helene Marsh. Many thanks to those who will rotate off the Board at that time, for all of their hard work on behalf of the Society: Emer Rogan, Inez Campbell, and Randy Wells.

The venue for the 2015 Biennial Conference will be San Francisco.

77% of votes were in favor of changing Marine Mammal Science to electronic-only.

All suggested changes to the governing documents were approved.

Thank you to the 403 members who voted in the election, your participation was much appreciated!

Sincerely,

Ailsa Hall
Chair, Nominations and Elections Committee

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.

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

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.

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.

Online information regarding the conference is available. Please refer to this website for registration details and the format for submitting conference materials.

We are also seeking the assistance of parties and organizations willing to provide financial support for organizing and conducting the conference and for preparing the proceedings.

Best,

RT commission

INDIANAPOLIS - Six of animal conservation's best have been selected as finalists for the 2012 Indianapolis Prize, the world's leading award for animal conservation. Selected from a group of 29 outstanding nominees, the finalists are Steven C. Amstrup, Ph.D., Markus Borner, Ph.D., Rodney Jackson, Ph.D., Carl Jones, Ph.D., Russell A. Mittermeier, Ph.D. and Patricia Wright, Ph.D. These heroes of animal conservation were nominated by their peers and chosen for their exceptional achievements on behalf of endangered or at-risk species across the globe.

There are also some other important issues we need your opinion on, so PLEASE login to the Member Area of the website following the instructions below. Further details on how to vote online are given after you login.

1. Login to the Member Area
2. Click 2012 Ballot from the left-hand menu

You must be a current member to participate; one vote per member.

The poll is already open and will remain open until 16 April 2012.

Thank you for voting, it counts!

Ecology & Conservation of Marine Mammals of the Humboldt Upwelling Ecosystem
Dates: June 30th – July 9th 2012
Location: Punta San Juan, Peru

This is a residential field-based course in Peru on the biology, anatomy, physiology, ecology, evolution, behavior, population biology, management and conservation of marine mammals, explaining why this group is so important, controversial and interesting.

Students will be provided with comprehensive knowledge on marine mammal ecology with special enphasis on species inhabiting the Humboldt Current Upwelling Ecosystem off the coast of Peru a developing country with the largest single species fishery in the world.

This is a university-accredited course and is intended for students in the summer vacation of 2012 and for enthusiastic individuals with keen interest in the marine environment. This course is suitable for MSc., undergraduate students in the last 3 years of study and individuals who want to learn from experts about sea lions, fur seals, dolphins, whales, marine otters of the south Pacific Ocean.

For more information, please visit:

http://upch-fieldschool.edu.pe/front/course_information_marine_mammals