Spike in interest for Oban’s Porcupines conference
The Porcupine Marine Natural History Society will host its annual conference on March 14 and 15 at the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) at Dunbeg.
The event, which usually takes place in England, will feature many speakers, including representatives from the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust, St Andrews University Marine Mammal Unit, the GRAB Trust, Open Seas and Basking Shark Scotland.
Topics covered will range from the latest research, conservation stories, taxonomy and citizen science, and attendees will also hear about some of the work currently being carried out at SAMS. There will also be the opportunity to participate in a field trip on Friday March 13 at Clachan Seil.
The presentations include:
The Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust is celebrating 25 years of marine mammal conservation on the west coast of Scotland, and its education manager Pippa Garrard will speak.
Texa Sim, a PhD student at SAMS, will present information about the behaviour of harbour porpoises around fish farms.
The GRAB Trust’s (Group for Recycling in Argyll and Bute). Kerry MacKay from its Beaches and Marine Litter Project, will speak about its work across Argyll on community engagement and education to tackle marine litter.
Open Seas will talk about its case study from Gairloch around seabed protection.
Shane Wasik from Basking Shark Scotland will be talking about its work studying feeding patterns and movements of basking sharks.
Bookings for the conference and field trip can be made on the Porcupine website http:// pmnhs.co.uk/meetings/ pmnhs-annual-conference.
The cost for the two days are £80 for Porcupine members, £90 for non-members, with single-day registration also available.
Students pay £45 for the two days which also includes Porcupine membership for a year.