whale shark conference 2007

[montse]

hello everyone,

i write on behalf of the Domino Project in Quintana Roo Mexico (www.domino.conanp.gob.mx).

we are going to host a whale shark conference is summer.the dates we have in mind are 4 to 5 days between the 25th of agustus and the 5th of september. which is still whale shark season here. the idea is to continue along the lines of the 2004 perth conference.

we do not have much more information at the moment. those who would like to be kept informed as the details develope, please send me an e-mail to:

mtrigo@conanp.gob.mx

saludos, montse

[AshtonGriffin]

Greetings, My name is Ashton Griffin I'm a sophomore in college with a Major in Biology. (Marine Biology isn't offered in the state of Georgia.) I'm wondering if there is certain requirements to attend the whale shark conference? I'm enthusiastic about Whale sharks and hope to study them when I finish up with my schooling.

Thanks,
Ashton

[montse]

EVERYONE is invited!

the nearest airport is Cancun, in the state of Quintana Roo Mexico.

[Steve Fox]

Hi

I have emailed you, I would be very interested.

[James Catlin]

Hi

I emailed Montse earlier with a few concerns and ideas. I am definitely up for another conference, i think at the last one everyone agreed a two year follow up would be a good interval. I think that if it is to be a real international affair it will take a bit of planning and time. If the idea is just for an American meeting then that is different. I think given the cost of travelling to mexico for most people it will be a major deterrent. The same could be said for the Perth conference but there were major subsidies for some attendees. So sponsorship may be an option. Alternatively, moving the conference to a major hub, such as Bangkok, could also be an option. A whale shark conference in Taiwan, would send a pretty strong conservation message. Another issue is the time frame to organise the papers. As far as I am aware many of the papers that were presented in Perth never made it into proceedings, i am not even sure that the ones for publication were published, but i may be wrong. I feel strongly that if a conference is going to held it should be a quality meeting. Anyway I have had my two bits worth so i am keen to hear what everyone else thinks.

Cheers

James

[Jason Holmberg]

I'm in favor of a 2007 meeting. I think it's very timely, and I think 2006 and 2007 have seen and will see a number of interesting publications that can be discussed. I don't know all of the many small details that must go into a successful conference, but if the folks of the Domino Project have the energy and enthusiasm to organize it, then I'm happy to help make it successful however I can.

Perhaps the organizers of the Perth 2005 conference can lend advice as needed?

Having made the 20 hour trek to Perth, Mexico sounds wonderful to me. Maybe we can as a group look for subsidies for those traveling from more distant locations?

[AshtonGriffin]

I would be willing to work with a group to help find subsidies for others.

[Brad Norman]

Hi all
I am keen to learn of the participants who look like attending this conference.
Definintely good to get another meeting of whale shark stakeholders together.
Perhaps we could have important regional conferences this year, leading to a well-planned (and global) '2nd International Whale Shark Conference' in 2008?
Open for discussion.....

[AshtonGriffin]

I'm very interested in attending a 2007 conference. Price is seeming to become an issue for me so my question would be; how much would lodging cost?

[James Catlin]

I have just started up a poll at the top of this thread to gauge attendance at the whale shark conference. However, you will only see it if you log on, so please sign in so that we can get an idea on participation.

Thanks

James

[Jason Holmberg]

If you're tracking this post, there's a conference update post at:

http://forum.ecocean.org/index.php?topic=150.0

including a link to the conference organizers' web site.

[RobinHanna]

Hi all,
I am currently in the write-up phase of my MSc thesis, a pilot study of whale shark aggregations in Costa Rica. I would be thrilled to attend the conference, the timing is perfect too, right in between handing in the written part and the defence. However, there are a couple of snags I'd like to approach here... originally my study was aimed at the dolphins in Golfo Dulce, one of the few tropical fjords in the world. Due to sudden problems at home this project had to be buried when I was already in the field, which is when I found out about the aggregations of whale sharks in the gulf, as well as the fact that no scientific study had yet investigated them in terms of, well anything... All I heard was that tourist operators stumbled across them at times, and that locals were very used to their occurrence. Sorry for the lengthiness, my point is that I developed my study to address this lack of knowledge, but was out of time to apply for funding and thus my bank manager is now very happily counting the interest he will be receiving from my debts. I will still try and find the funds to attend, but if any subsidies are available I would very much like to find out more... I would be travelling from Germany. Also, from what I gather attendees are required to hold a presentation...?

Many thanks, please feel free to contact me for more information (Mr Norman will be receiving the completed thesis)

Yours, Robin