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Matthew Godfrey's blog, "The World According To Me..." was the second most popular resource on seaturtle.org last month, eclipsing the Marine Turtle Newsletter, the Image Library, and the 25th Sea Turtle Symposium site. The only resource that was more popular was the satellite tracking section which has been at the top almost since it's inception.
(the satellite tracking section received twice as many hits as Matthew did for those keeping track at home)
http://web14.compaq.com/falco/detail.asp?FAQnum=FAQ2859
And for impaired Mac users...
By request an update of the numbers (another deadline has passed since I posted the last update)...
Total registration now stands at 745. With nearly three months to go I expect the number to grow by 200 to 300, but I suspect there could be a larger than usual number of people registering on site.
There have been slight changes in the most represented countries:
UNITED STATES: 502
MEXICO: 22
COSTA RICA: 20
UNITED KINGDOM: 18
CANADA: 14
AUSTRALIA: 10
VENEZUELA: 8
INDIA: 7
PORTUGAL: 7
COLOMBIA: 6
GUATEMALA: 6
ITALY: 6
JAPAN: 6
PERU: 6
In all 68 countries are now represented. Here is the complete list:
ARGENTINA
ARUBA
AUSTRALIA
BARBADOS
BELIZE
BERMUDA
BRAZIL
CAMEROON
CANADA
CAYMAN ISLANDS
COLOMBIA
COSTA RICA
CROATIA
CUBA
DENMARK
DOMINICA
ECUADOR
EGYPT
EQUATORIAL GUINEA
ERITREA
FRANCE
GABON
GAMBIA
GERMANY
GHANA
GREECE
GRENADA
GUATEMALA
GUYANA
INDIA
IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF
ITALY
JAPAN
KENYA
MALAYSIA
MEXICO
MONTSERRAT
MOROCCO
NETHERLANDS
NETHERLANDS ANTILLES
NICARAGUA
NIGERIA
OMAN
PALAU
PANAMA
PERU
PHILIPPINES
PORTUGAL
PUERTO RICO
SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS
SAINT LUCIA
SAMOA
SENEGAL
SOUTH AFRICA
SPAIN
SWEDEN
TAIWAN, PROVINCE OF CHINA
TANZANIA, UNITED REPUBLIC OF
THAILAND
TOGO
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS
UNITED KINGDOM
UNITED STATES
URUGUAY
VENEZUELA
VIRGIN ISLANDS, U.S.
YEMEN
An actual message received this morning. One of the more abusive messages that I have received (see the post about the GADNR turtle Ormanda for more examples).
In any case, I'm not exactly sure why this new poster sent the message. He obviously seems to be upset that sea turtle protection is putting a crimp in his beach driving, but why he chose to lash out at seaturtle.org is beyond me. From reading the news I assume he is talking about the specific situation in Flagler County Florida.
Judge denies bid for beach driving ban
Judge denies activists' request for injunction
There were more stories, but unfortunately most seem to have expired because of AP rules that they can only be displayed for two weeks...
This is not something that I know much about or that seaturtle.org is involved in. So again, not sure why we received the message. It also means I feel no particular compunction against reposting it here :)
You people make me sick . Are you really that stupid to think these
turtles are becoming extinct ? They eat them in the Caribbean. They are
not becoming extinct at all. For some reason they are coming to this area
less , probably a natural occurrence.
Your organization is simply using this as an excuse to stop driving on the
beach. This area would dry up without beach driving you dumb asses.
Guess what ? Beach driving will not stop for the simple reason that it
would discriminate against handicap people from accessing the beach like
everyone else....that is a Federally protected right.
Your poster girl Shirley Reynolds is a selfish bitch who does not even
reside here full time and who thinks she has more rights than everyone else.
You guys are nothing more than mislead fanatics protecting something that
does not need your help.
Go stick you head in the sand and find a turtle egg.
You suck !!!!!!!!!!!!
What's the take home message here?
First make sure you know what you are talking about and who you are talking to before you open your mouth.
Second, be polite!
The first deadline has passed and the extended deadline is only days away. So how are we doing?
We are ahead of schedule on almost all counts. So far 693 people have registered, more than have registered this far in advance for any previous symposium. Of those 214, or about 30%, are students. Probably a pretty good proportion for any professional meeting.
The distribution of international representation is good as always. The US makes up most of the registered participants so far with 464, or 67%. The downside is that that is a lot higher than usual. While people have registered from 65 countries, the number two country on the list has only 21 representatives. Here's the top 12 (there's a four-way tie at the bottom).
USA: 464
Mexico: 21
Costa Rica: 20
United Kingdom: 17
Canada: 13
Australia: 10
Venezuela: 8
Portugal: 7
Guatemala: 6
India: 6
Italy: 6
Japan: 6
Come on folks, this is going to be a great symposium. Let's see more international participation!
The graph above is a great illustration of how many people wait until the last minute to register (and submit abstracts, and submit travel grant applications...). About one-third of the registrants so far registered in the last 24 hours before the initial pre-registration deadline. This is not usually a big deal, but a small number of people always run in to problems for one reason or another (they don't understand the process, they don't read the instructions, they have technical difficulties, etc). Imagine if the server went down on the deadline day? YIKES! In any case, the small number of people that need help all end up needing it at the same time, which makes for a busy few days for me.
For future reference, I would appreciate if more people would take care of business a little bit earlier, even if it's only a few days earlier :)
A bit distressing to see so few donations on the home page (only 6).
If you like what we are doing here please consider making a donation. We need your help!!!
Making an argument equating sea turtle nest poaching to abortion...
Since sea turtles are a protected species, one can be imprisoned for destroying sea turtle eggs. What does it say about our society when an unborn sea turtle has more legal protection than an unborn child?
Opinion letter from Larry Stone
From the Times Record, Fort Smith, Arkansas:
http://www.swtimes.com/archive/2004/October/05/opinion/letters.html