The world according to me....

Moving down the line, here are Tomo Eguchi, Melissa Snover, Selina Heppell, Mike James and just the arm of Maartje Hilterman. These are just some of a dozen or so diligently working people who recently met in Halifax, Canada for the fourth meeting of the Leatherback Turtle Expert Working Group. The same group has previously met in Paris and Trinidad. The venue of Halifax was suggested by Mike James, of the Nova Scotia Leatherback Turtle Working Group. Apart from our productive working days, we also had fun visiting Peggy's Cove in Nova Scotia, near where leatherbacks are often found foraging on jellyfish in the late summer and fall. We also saw the NS Natural History Museum in Halifax, where some decent sea turtle replicas hang from the ceiling.

The highlight was Friday night, when Mike and Kathleen invited several of us who hadn't yet left Halifax over to dinner at their home. We got to view the box turtle collection, play with Aidan and Kate, and best of all, see Peter Pritchard sign Mike's original copy of the Encyclopedia of Turtles (that publication which inspired a young Mike James to want to work with reptiles):

Our last meeing will be next week in Crete, after the International Sea Turtle Symposium. Stay tuned for info on what the product of this group is going to be.

SPECIAL THANKS TO KELLY STEWART FOR TAKING ALL THESE PHOTOS!