There are only a
very few conferences each year where shark and ray researchers meet to present
and discuss their new findings. When I found out about the OCS Meeting in
Brisbane, it felt very much out of my reach. I also knew that the recent
unexpected discoveries I found on giant manta rays need to be shared with this
community. I was very grateful for the MPRF for funding me to present in
Brisbane!
Brisbane is a
beautiful city. I could find affordable accomodation only a bit further from
the conference hotel, but this gave me the opportunity for a nice walk by the
river and through a botanical garden every day. The city even have free ferry
that connects the downtown area with the other side of the river.
I was presenting at
the end of the first day and I was happy to discuss my findings with other
researchers about the body coloration changes of manta rays after the talk. I
am aware that these changes are very surprising to many of us, but I think it
rather shows how little we know about these animals, especially about their
biology and behavior. Many of the participants mentioned that these changes are
probably not so unique to manta rays since coloration changes are described and
have been observed by many of them on sharks.
Probably the most interesting
talk for me was at the end of the last day, about large scale movement of great
white sharks in Australian waters which results were generated from decades of
data collection.On the last day of the conference during the evening reception the student and travel awards were announced and a boat tour on the river offered a great scene to further socialize and to discuss our work.
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| Evening reception from left: James Anderson, Csilla Ari, Alastair Harry, Tom Kashiwagi |
If I was already in Brisbane
I had to make a short visit to the University of Queensland to meet some
experts I have been wanting to talk for many years. I am hoping to establish
fruitful collaborations in the future.
Before leaving Australia, of
course I could not miss the chance to visit a koala rehabilitation farm where I
was thrilled to pet koalas and kangaroos.
This conference was a great
chance to meet personally with some of the most famous experts of shark and ray
research. I was honored to represent the Manta Pacific Research Foundation and
to direct more attention to the need of manta ray research at such a great
event!
