The participants of the Bahamas Marine Mammal Stranding Workshop, 2009.

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Bahamas Marine Mammal Stranding Network Workshop 2009 - Press Release

On Saturday 28th February and Sunday 1st March, the second marine mammal stranding network workshop was held at the Atlantis Resort in Nassau, hosted by the Bahamas Marine Mammal Research Organisation (BMMRO), the Department of Marine Resources, and the Atlantis Resort.

In 2008 the first workshop was held and trained 8 Bahamian islands how to respond to a stranding of a marine mammal in the Bahamas. This year the purpose of the workshop was to train remaining islands. The workshop this year was attended by 12 Bahamian islands, with over a total of 70 participants.

A total of 15 Bahamian islands have now been trained to respond to the stranding of a live or dead marine mammal. The participants will be given identification badges to carry with them, to identify that they have been trained and can help in stranding situations.

Training was provided by Dr Ruth Ewing and Liz Tuohy-Sheen from US NOAA Fisheries in Miami, Dr Darlene Ketten from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and Dr Charles Manire, the senior Atlantis veterinarian. Charlotte Dunn, the President of BMMRO and the workshop organiser, said that she was very impressed with the level of interest, the excellent questions, and the level of knowledge that the participants showed. She was also extremely pleased to welcome to the workshop this year a dozen children from the new group, Young Bahamian Marine Scientists, who attended the entire workshop, throughout their weekend.