It includes the Atlanta Aquarium, which keeps whale sharks (a little unsuccessfully), Paul Watson (Sea Shepherd), Dr Mark Meekan (AIMS) tagging program, and WA’s own Brad Norman plus the ECOCEAN Photo-ID Library.

Please advise others you think might be interested.

So .. that’s Ch9 on the 9th of the 9th at .. um .. 7.30!

Dennis Beros

The ABC programme New Inventors recently featured the Ecocean Photo-identification Library. Winner of episode 28/2007 the public is now invited to vote for the People’s Choice Awards. Just one more day to go: http://www.abc.net.au/tv/newinventors/txt/s2002049.htm

Each Laureate will receive a cash prize and a personally inscribed gold Rolex chronometer on the 26th October)\ at a ceremony at the Esplanade performing arts centre in Singapore. The five winners – selected by an independent panel of experts from nearly 1,700 applicants from 117 countries – will be recognized for their contributions to science, technology, the environment, exploration and cultural heritage.

The new Laureates are: Alexandra Lavrillier, a French ethnologist establishing a mobile school to preserve Siberian nomads’ cultural heritage; Brad Norman, an Australian environmentalist implementing a global photo-identification database for whale shark conservation; Pilai Poonswad, a Thai microbiology professor saving hornbills threatened by poaching and deforestation in southern Thailand; Chanda Shroff, an Indian woman setting up a mobile resource centre to showcase Kutchi embroidery and teach a new generation of artisans about this tradition; and Rory Wilson, a British zoologist testing a revolutionary energy-expenditure measuring device to help conserve wildlife.

“The Laureates demonstrate the unwavering spirit of enterprise that has underpinned the Rolex Awards since their beginning 30 years ago,” said Patrick Heiniger, Chief Executive Officer of Rolex SA and Chairman of the Awards Selection Committee. “We at Rolex are gratified that we have been able to support these brave individuals who dare to do things differently to improve the human condition.”

Brad Norman added “I thank all the team of dedicated volunteers worldwide who have contributed to the global success of the ECOCEAN global whale shark photo-identification program, with special thanks in particular to Jason Holmberg and Zaven Arzoumanian”.

Hi

I know that most of the people registered on this site at the moment are not from the Caribbean region, but just to let you know that there is a Whale Shark Conference in Belize on the 25, 26, 27, 28 September 2006

As sent to me today here are the details, if anyone would like anymore information please feel free to contact me, I am based in Utila and will be going to it.

Workshop

Whale shark tourism management: developing guidelines for best practices in the Mesoamerican Reef Region

Placencia, Belize
September 25-28, 2006

Rationale

Despite the surveys and other research studies conducted on the whale shark aggregation in several sites along the coast of Belize and Mexico, the information gathered is not enough to understand the dynamics of the whale shark feeding aggregations and the impact of observation by tourists or researchers on its site fidelity.

The expansion of whale shark observation tourism, the potential threat of inadequate practices or unregulated operations to its sustainability, and the increasing importance of these operations to facilitate the transition of fishers to less impacting and more profitable economic activities, have made all stakeholders interested in developing guidelines for best practices. The development of such guidelines might benefit of the incorporation of the code of conduct already developed in some countries of the information and expertise of the people involved in these activities along the MAR. This can lead to the creation of policy measures at local and regional levels, including regulatory agencies, marine protected areas managers and whale shark tour operators.

In addition, such a region-wide effort requires additional effort and investments on research, training, communication, policy measures, business consolidation development, as well as funding for all of the above.

Objectives
The workshop has following objectives:

Share information (both anecdotal and scientific) on the oceanographic conditions and behavior of the whale shark aggregations on the MAR region;
exchange experiences on whale shark tourism observation practices in your area;
generate information for drafting a code of conduct or guidelines that can be used for regulating the activity in each country;
establish a network of whale shark conservation scientists and managers (researchers, educators, government planners and regulators, protected areas staff and stewards; enforcement authorities; tour operators) that facilitates information exchange and synergy building towards the common goal (whale shark conservation and sustainable use); and draft a regional program for funding research and communication.
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Steve Fox
www.UtilaWhaleSharkResearch.com
www.DeepBlueUtila.com