Marine mammals subject of international conference in Tampa

On the 30th anniversary of its founding, the globe-trotting Society for Marine Mammalogy has chosen Tampa for its biennial conference, which starts Monday at the Tampa Convention Center.

As many as 2,000 scientists, researchers, students and anyone else with marine mammal interests are expected to surge over downtown with trips to The Florida Aquarium and Lowry Park Zoo planned.

"We're expecting as many as 2,000," said Randall Wells, president of the society. People are welcome to register when they show up. "We have 1,700 early registrants."

He said the attendees will be coming from all over the world. While most are scientists specializing in marine mammology, some members are lay people interested in the field. Wells said the conference is open to anyone.

The non-profit society with a membership of almost 2,000 exists to promote educational and scientific advancement of marine mammal science and awards grants for research in the field.

The theme for this year's conference is, "Cumulative effects of threats to marine mammals: Challenges to animals, scientists and managers." Participants will discuss threats and possible solutions to everything from polar bears to otters.

Workshops will include field trips to see the manatees at the Lowry Park Zoo and exhibits at The Florida Aquarium; panel discussions will include issues surrounding the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico last year.

The last conference was in Quebec City, Canada; the next one in 2013 in New Zealand. This is the 19th conference (they actually began years before the society was created) and it runs from Monday through Friday.

The society's website said the conference "is a gathering of marine mammal scientists from around the world with the goal of enhancing collaboration, sharing ideas, and improving the quality of research on marine mammals."

The society also brags about the Tampa Bay area, calling an "ideal location for the 2011 conference – great weather, beautiful beaches, outstanding meeting venues, exciting attractions and easy access.

"Centrally located on the West Coast of Florida, the Tampa Bay area offers a unique blend of urban sophistication set in a natural marine environment."

"We chose this site six years ago," said Wells who works at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota. "It's an international society, so we as much as possible try to move it around the world. We like to have every other conference in North America, because this is where most of the members are."

Attendance in the past has ranged from 300 in the beginning to 2,000 in recent conferences.