Dear LAJAM readership, On behalf of our Editorial Board I am pleased to announce the publication of Vol. 7 of the The Latin American Journal of Aquatic Mammals (LAJAM), combining Nos. 1 and 2. As you are probably aware the journal has accrued a significant backlog in the past few years, but we are making steady progress in getting caught up with the publication schedule. The year of publication of Vol. 7 would have been 2008 but in order to reduce the backlog we decided to include manuscripts received through 2009. For this reason, please note that the year of publication of Vol. 7 is 2009. No issue was published with a 2008 date. The Table of Contents for Vol. 7, No. 1-2, along with the abstracts and the e-mail address of the corresponding authors for requesting PDF copies will be posted separately. LAJAM is distributed to members of the Sociedad Latinoamericana de Especialistas en Mamíferos Acuáticos / Latin American Society of Specialists on Aquatic Mammals (solamac.org) and the Sociedad Mexicana de Mastozoología Marina / Mexican Society for Marine Mammalogy (www.somemma.org). If you are a paid member of SOLAMAC or SOMEMMA for 2008-2009 you should be receiving a printed copy of the journal in the mail in the coming weeks. LAJAM’s Managing Editor, Dr. Salvatore Siciliano, will be handling the mailing, so if you have any inquiries in this regard please direct them to him (sal@ensp.fiocruz.br ). LAJAM publishes articles concerning research, management and conservation biology of aquatic mammals in Latin America, regardless of the nationality of the authors. Articles on techniques broadly applicable to the study of aquatic mammals are also considered regardless of author’s nationality. We are currently working on the next issue, Vol. 8, No. 1-2, for December 2010, which will be a special issue on the biology and conservation of neotropical dolphins of the genus Sotalia. In addition, we are accepting submissions for Vol. 9. A file containing the current ‘Instructions for Authors’ is available on SOLAMAC’s website, or it can be requested from me (Daniel.Palacios@noaa.gov ). With this letter I am making available the editorial for Vol. 7 (see attachment), which contains important news for the readership. Sincerely, Daniel Palacios Editor-in-Chief Attachments: Editorial, Vol. 7