In December 2019, Caroline attended the World Marine Mammal Conference in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, hosted by the Society for Marine Mammalogy (SMM) and the European Cetacean Society (ECS). The conference goal was to bring together scientists, managers, policy-makers, educators and students from across the globe to discuss the world’s most exciting science and most pressing conservation issues. Almost 3,000 international participants attended the conference; little did we know that this would be the last such meeting for a long time due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020.
Representing the work on baleen whales in the Falkland Islands being carried out with Falklands Conservation, two presentations were made at the conference:
- Weir, C.R., Stanworth, A., Cartwright, S., Jelbes, P.A.Q., Taylor, M. and Pompert, J. (2019). Distribution and movements of sei whales (Balaenoptera borealis) on coastal feeding grounds in the Falkland Islands (Malvinas). World Marine Mammal Conference, Barcelona, Spain, December 2019. Download HERE .
- Buss, D., Jackson, J. A., O’Connell, T.C., Goodall-Copestake, W.P., Carroll, E.L., Foote, A., Barnes, I., Brace, S., Stowasser, G., Trathan, P., Jelbes, P.A.Q, Taylor, M., Stanworth, A. and Weir, C.R. (2019). Understanding diet, past and present: Insights into the foraging ecology of Falkland Island sei whales using DNA metabarcoding and stable isotope analysis. World Marine Mammal Conference, Barcelona, Spain, December 2019.
Additionally, Caroline participated with many colleagues at a meeting held to reinvigorate conservation efforts for the critically endangered Atlantic humpback dolphin in Africa, which has since resulted in the formation of the Consortium for the Conservation of the Atlantic Humpback Dolphin (CCAHD), which aims to: work towards the long-term sustainability of Atlantic humpback dolphin populations and their habitats through research, awareness, capacity-building and action.
