The Greek research organisation Archipelagos is offering several one-week field courses addressing the local cetacean fauna. Location is the island of Patmos, Northern Dodecanese. Whales & Dolphins of the Greek Seas - A Marine Field Course These courses focus on the biology and conservation of marine mammals in the Aegean Sea, and the methods to study them in the field. Weather permitting, daily boat surveys will be carried out. Dates in 2007: 3.4.-9.4. 29.4.-5.5. 27.5.-2.6. 22.7.-28.7. 9.9.-15.9. 14.10.-20.10. (The fee including accommodation, meals and all activities is Euro 580.) Please find extended information at: http://www.archipelago.gr/en/viewpage.asp?page=fieldcourses/Marinemammals.ht... The course content is highly applied, as is the daily work of the Archipelagos Institute, which aims at developing sustainable management concepts for the natural wealth of the Aegean Sea in co-operation with the local communities. The topics of the course: 1. Visual survey methods to assess the abundance of cetacean populations. 2. Biology and conservation of marine mammals of the Eastern Aegean Sea. 3. Passive acoustics: a modern tool to study cetacean behaviour, habitat characteristics and estimating cetacean abundance. 4. Cetacean Bioacoustics. 5. Application of GIS (Geographic Information System) analysis in marine biodiversity studies. 6. First aid to marine mammals The course is coordinated and conducted by Dr. Frank Veit. For more information, visit the course home page (link above) or contact Frank Veit directly at: frank@archipelago.gr The non-profit environmental organisation Archipelagos conducts for over six years the first comprehensive study on the biodiversity of the marine and terrestrial island ecosystems in Greek waters, focussing on the application of established as well as innovative research techniques in assessing and modelling environmental data. A further emphasis of the organisation's activities is the information exchange with local communities, including educational programs, and a close collaboration with national and international institutions. Archipelagos is offering further educational field courses. An overview is given at: http://www.archipelago.gr/en/viewpage.asp?page=fieldcourses/StudentGroups.ht... Frank Veit, Ph D Marine Mammal Research Coordinator www.archipelago.gr Archipelagos Institute Poste Restante 85500 Patmos Greece Tel./Fax: +30 22750 41673 mob. : +30 6946447506 email: frank@archipelago.gr