As the new Director of Shoals Marine Laboratory (SML), I am working with Associate Director Jessica Bolker to spread the word about our college credit courses and other programs for Summer 2006. We are a small organization and we rely on word-of-mouth recruiting for our college credit courses and adult and family education programs. SML is based on 95-acre Appledore Island, 6 miles offshore from Portsmouth, New Hampshire (about one hour drive north from Logan Airport in Boston). The clean surrounding waters are teaming with life including seals, whales, lobsters and hundreds of species of fishes. We have worked hard to plan an exciting series of courses and programs for Summer 2006, including at least three of particular interest to subscribers to the MARMAM list. J.B. Heiser (Cornell) will teach Marine Vertebrates (July 24 - August 14; 6 credits). This is the 20th year for Marine Vertebrates at SML, and leading authorities on fishes, marine birds and marine mammals of the Gulf of Maine will join J.B. for a very special version of this highly regarded course. J.B. Heiser also will lead a non-credit adult and family education course Marine Mammals of the Gulf of Maine (August 24 - August 27), in which participants will learn about the Gulf of Maine as a natural laboratory for the observation and study of seals, whales and dolphins. For professionals and advanced students, Wayne Lord (FBI) and Romona Haebler (EPA) will teach Forensic Science for Marine Biologists: Practical Techniques for the Investigation of Marine Mammal Strandings and the Untimely Death of Marine Vertebrates (August 14 - 18). Although not focused on marine mammals, The Ecology of Animal Behavior (July 3 - July 17, 2006; 4 credits) is back again for Summer 2006. This highly regarded course offers intensive experience in behavioral ecology based on the many vertebrate and invertebrate species readily observable on Appledore. Other courses on vertebrate biology this summer at SML include Field Ornithology (May 27 - June 12; 4 credits), taught by Kim Bostwick and Ed Scholes (Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology). Students have outstanding opportunities to study gull biology, migratory and oceanic birds and to learn field techniques ranging from identification and audio recording to mist netting, surveying and censusing. The Diversity of Fishes (June 5 - 26, 2006; 6 credits) will be taught again this summer by world famous ichthyologist Bruce Collette (NOAA/Smithsonian), an authority on marine fishes and editor of The Fishes of the Gulf of Maine. Finally, Biological Illustration will be offered again this year (July 17 - July 24; 2 credits). It always runs at full capacity, so send in your application now! We guarantee that everyone will find inspiring things to see, study, learn, describe, paint or photograph at SML. We would be delighted to have you, your family, your students or your friends enroll in these or other programs at SML. To learn more about the full range of opportunities at SML, please visit our website: http:// www.sml.cornell.edu/. Or call us at 607-255-3717. Sincerely, Willy William E. Bemis Kingsbury Director of Shoals Marine Laboratory and Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Cornell University, Ithaca, NY Jessica Jessica Bolker Associate Director of Shoals Marine Laboratory and Associate Professor of Zoology University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH