Dear MARMAM subscribers: 40 years ago last month, in the corridors of a legendary early whale conference at the University of Indiana, whale photo-ID was being discussed for the first time among the leading whale and dolphin scientists of the time — all 30 or 40 of them. That's a far cry from the 2,500 people attending the 21st Society for Marine Mammalogy Biennial conference in San Francisco this week. (Back then, there was no SMM, no biennial, and no journal devoted to MM work.) You can read more about the birth of whale photo-ID and how it provided a foundation for so much of what we’re learning today about whale and dolphin societies in this recently published article in Hakai Magazine. Available for free download, or reading online: http://www.hakaimagazine.com/article-long/whales-through-new-lens * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Erich Hoyt Senior Research Fellow, WDC, Whale and Dolphin Conservation Programme Head, Critical Habitat/ MPAs, WDC Co-director, Far East Russia Orca Project and Russian Cetacean Habitat Project Co-chair, IUCN Marine Mammal Protected Area Task Force Park House, Allington Park Bridport, Dorset DT6 5DD United Kingdom Email: erich.hoyt@mac.com Web: erichhoyt.com cetaceanhabitat.org whales.org erichhoytbooks.com Facebook: erichhoyt Twitter: @erichhoyt * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *