I am posting the following as a gentle reminder, especially to those researchers who work in the Indian Ocean (if you cannot get us your information by the April 1 deadline, please still send it through, as we still may be able to include it): SOLICITATION LETTER TO POTENTIAL CONTRIBUTORS TO THE STATE OF THE CETACEAN ENVIRONMENT REPORT (SOCER) This letter is a call for submissions to enable us to produce a draft State of the Cetacean Environment Report (SOCER) for consideration by the IWC's Scientific Committee. It will be the fifth SOCER produced. The ultimate objective is to provide Commissioners (in response to Resolution 2000-7) and other interested parties with a non-technical periodic summary of events, developments and conditions in the marine environment that are relevant to cetaceans. Such developments might range from unusual mortalities to new legislation protecting marine habitats. The report is compiled on an annual basis, with pre-selected regions to be treated each year. These regions include: Mediterranean and Black Seas; North and South Atlantic; North and South Pacific; Arctic and Southern Ocean; Indian Ocean; and Global. This year will be devoted to the Indian Ocean. Every 4-6 years, the regional reports will be combined, along with important additions pertaining to the various regions that occurred in the intervening period, into a complete global SOCER. We are asking for submissions of information that in your opinion merit inclusion in this report. This should primarily include information on events from 2004, 2005 and the months of 2006 before the submission deadline, although earlier data may be submitted if relevant over the long term. You may submit information in two ways: 1. Send an email to one of the SOCER editors (see contact information below) and include the relevant scientific paper(s) as an attachment; 2. Use the standardised form for data entry, which can be downloaded from http://www.iwcoffice.org/SCWEB/socer.htm. Please fill out all the relevant fields. Any additional information provided (see item VIII: "additional information and remarks") will assist the editorial decision-making process regarding inclusion in the SOCER. If an event or development does not fit the format of the form, but you nonetheless believe it warrants inclusion, please specify this in Item VIII. The relevant scientific papers should be submitted with the submission form or otherwise drawn to the attention of the editors. With few exceptions, only information stemming from published scientific papers and reports or other authoritative sources can be accepted. However, any supporting documentation for an event or development - such as news items - may also be submitted with the form. *****The deadline for submissions for the 2006 SOCER is: April 1, 2006. The SOCER will also contain a glossary of technical terms. The draft version of this report will be written by the principal SOCER editors (Michael Stachowitsch, Naomi Rose and Chris Parsons) and circulated as a Scientific Committee document in advance of the Scientific Committee meeting, where its content and format will be evaluated. Please note that, due to editorial considerations (succinct format for Commissioners), not all submissions may be incorporated (or incorporated in full) into the SOCER. We would greatly appreciate your input into this endeavor, which we intend to be a useful contribution to international understanding, particularly at the policy level, of cetaceans and their changing environment. Michael Stachowitsch Naomi Rose Dept. of Marine Biology Humane Society International University of Vienna 2100 L Street, N.W. Althanstrasse 14, A-1090 Washington, D.C. 20037 USA Vienna, Austria Email: nrose@hsus.org Email: stachom5@univie.ac.at Chris Parsons Department of Environmental Science and Policy George Mason University Fairfax, VA 22030 USA Email: ecm-parsons@earthlink.net