Dear Colleagues: We would like to invite you to present the latest results from your electronic tagging studies at our session on "Marine Predator Hot Spots", to be held during the 2008 Ocean Sciences Meeting, 2-7 March 2008, in Orlando, Florida, USA. Please note that the abstract submittal deadline is 2 October 2007, less than a month away! The registration and abstract submission process is being handled on-line at: http://www.aslo.org/orlando2008/ About the session: Session #179: Marine Predator Hot Spots Organizers: Steven Bograd, NOAA NMFS Southwest Fisheries Science Center, steven.bograd@noaa.gov Barbara Block, Stanford University, bblock@stanford.edu Daniel Costa, University of California, Santa Cruz, costa@biology.ucsc.edu Daniel Palacios, Joint Institute of Marine and Atmospheric Research, University of Hawaii, daniel.palacios@noaa.gov The ocean environment is heterogeneous over a spectrum of spatial and temporal scales. This complexity creates a variety of habitats that marine organisms exploit throughout their life histories. Marine populations tend to aggregate for reproduction, foraging, protection, and migration. Locations where organisms concentrate regularly, or where there is high biological activity, are termed biological hot spots. Recent developments in electronic tagging now provide information on species aggregations and interactions in the context of the environment they are sampling. The expansion of large-scale biologging programs in recent years is providing unprecedented insight into the physical forcing, ecological function, and biodiversity of biological hot spots in diverse parts of the world ocean. This session will showcase new information on the location of essential habitats of marine predators that comes from the animals themselves by way of satellite telemetry and an increasingly sophisticated suite of instruments carried by the animals. Identification and monitoring of optimal species-specific habitat could constitute an effective approach to marine conservation and resource management. About the meeting: 2008 Ocean Sciences Meeting - From the Watershed to the Global Ocean, 2-7 March 2008, Orlando, Florida, USA. Co-sponsored by the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, the American Geophysical Union, The Oceanography Society and the Estuarine Research Federation. http://www.aslo.org/orlando2008/ Abstract submittal deadline: 2 October 2007 An abstract submission fee of $50.00 USD is required for each submission, along with a full paid registration. This fee is non- refundable should it later be determined you are not able to attend and make your presentation. However, registration fees are refundable under the registration guidelines. Only one paper per first author will be accepted. Poster presentations are strongly encouraged and will play an important role in this meeting. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------ Daniel M. Palacios, Ph.D. Research Oceanographer (JIMAR) Environmental Research Division Southwest Fisheries Science Center, NOAA Fisheries 1352 Lighthouse Avenue Pacific Grove, CA 93950-2097 voice: (831) 658-3203 fax: (831) 648-8440 email: Daniel.Palacios@noaa.gov http://www.pfeg.noaa.gov/~dpalacio