Dear MARMAN Members, I am a German M.Sc. cand. student planning a behavior project with Falk Huettmann, Institute for Arctic biology, UAF on social mammals this summer and we are looking for cooperation. I hold a research visa for the US. Mainly our project is based on bear species, but we also want to include one ape (Alouatta palliata) and one whale species - using the same method. The bear research sights are pretty set up, but getting cooperation in observation on a whale species brings up some difficulties. What we are searching for: People doing field work on whales, Being able to observe more individuals (2-10) at a time for 4-6 hours a day, Space for one person (me) on the boat for approximately two weeks, A place to stay during that time. The best time frame for the field season would be end of June / July 2006. As this project is a pilot study, we don't depend on a special species so far. Further we don't have money to offer in exchange but we can offer shared data, sampling of additional data (e.g. as useful to other researchers or part of their ongoing program) and full acknowledgments in our forthcoming papers. I want to ask you kindly if you see a possibility in cooperation or if you know any options and possibilities to find good contacts for the Northern Pacific region. For more information please don't hesitate to contact me. I am looking forward to hear from you. Any suggestion will be an appreciated help to us. With best regards, Kim Jochum Kim Jochum M.Sc. cand. Institute of Wildlife Research, at the School of Veterinary Medicine Hannover Foundation D-30173 Hannover Germany Email kimjochum@gmx.de Phone 011 49 511 2103508 Falk Huettmann PhD, Assistant Professor -EWHALE lab- Biology and Wildlife Dept., Institute of Arctic Biology 419 IRVING I, University of Alaska Fairbanks AK 99775-7000 USA Email fffh@uaf.edu Phone 907 474 7882 Fax 907 474 6716