First Annual West Coast Sea Turtle Symposium - 19-20 October, 2022. Aquarium of the Pacific, Long Beach, California

Conference Abstracts 2022

Stephen G. Dunbar, Lidia Salinas, Dustin S. Baumbach. Using Community Science and Photo ID to Increase Understanding of Sea Turtles.

Stephen G. Dunbar. Origin Stories; How Turtle Reseachers Got Their Start

Conference Pictures

	Dr. Jeff Seminoff (Southwest Fisheries Science Center) opening the first ever West Coast Sea Turtle Symposium.	Barbara Schroeder of NOAA Fisheries, Office of Protected Resources giving her opening remarks regarding sea turtle prevalence in California waters and the growing efforts to protect them.
	One of the features of the sympoiums was turtle researchers providing their "origin sotries" about how they became turtle researchers. Here Dr. George Balazs regales us with his origin story.	Small group discussions were critical to the section of the symposium dedicated to finding solutions to big conservation problems. Here Dr. Yonat Swimmer, Dr. Jeff Seminoff, Barbara Schroeder, Lynn Massey, Dr. Peter Dutton, and Dr. George Balazs discuss.
	Kim Gray (San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance) and her daughter Hope Lovich catch up with Steve during one of the breaks. Kim and Hope are old friends from Loma Linda University.	Dr. J Nichols giving the Keynote Address at the end of the conference, reminding us of the healing properties of water.
	Dr. J Nichols during his keynote describing encounters with the ocean. How lucky that kid is to see a leatherback sea turtle so close!	Steve and Sabrina Mashburn of SoCal Sea Turtles catching up after the conference. SoCal Sea Turtles has been instrumental in raising awareness about sea turtles in California waters.
	From right to left, Dr. J Nichols, Dr. Jesse Senko, Lynn Massey. Meeting with other sea turtle professionals is one of the great joys of attending symposia. You always get to make some life-long friends.
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