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Marine Turtle Newsletter 112:21, © 2006

Marine Turtle Newsletter-Online

2nd Sea Turtle Husbandry Symposium, Galveston, Texas, USA: May 20-21, 2006


The 2nd Sea Turtle Husbandry Symposium (STHS) will be hosted by the Aquarium & Rainforest at Moody Gardens in Galveston, Texas. In addition, major organizational sponsors include the NOAA Fisheries Galveston Laboratory, the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center, and the Sea Turtle Working Group that meets in conjunction with the American Zoo and Aquarium Association. The STHS organizing committee is planning a full schedule of oral and poster presentations related to all aspects of sea turtle husbandry. Subject areas may include related aspects of sea turtle biology, aquarium system design, growth and nutrition, medical management, enrichment, legislative issues, and education, research and conservation opportunities. Following the symposium, a proceedings document will be compiled that will include the full contents of all presentations. The Sea Turtle Working Group plans to use the STHS proceedings in conjunction with other research materials to develop a sea turtle husbandry manual within the next 12 months.

As with the first STHS, this year’s symposium will take place in association with the Regional Aquatics Workshop, an annual conference of aquarium professionals. The first STHS was a one-day meeting held in 2003 and hosted by the Riverbanks Zoo and Garden in Columbia, South Carolina. The 2003 symposium hosted 90 attendees and included more than 12 oral presentations from invited speakers and others. For 2006, the STHS is expanding to two days. The first day will include oral presentations from invited speakers, and oral and poster presentations from others submit¬ting abstracts. There will be an evening reception and tour at the NOAA Laboratory to conclude day one. On the second day, there will be hands-on workshops conducted at the lab. The workshops will include demonstrations of sea turtle handling and examination techniques including a turtle necropsy, turtle tagging (flipper, PIT, satellite and other electronic tags), live turtle restraint and transport, and medical examination.

In addition to the invited speakers, anyone interested in making a presentation at the STHS is encouraged to submit an abstract for consideration.

Go to <http://www.rawconference.org> for information on registration and abstract submission.

For further information or questions, contact:

Mark Swingle, Director of Research & Conservation, Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center, 717 General Booth Boulevard Virginia Beach, VA 23451 USA
E-mail: MSwingle@VirginiaAquarium.com
Phone: 00 1 757-437-4949