Penguin Conference Day 1

I arrived in Bristol yesterday afternoon and dropped my bag off at the university halls of residence. The room is basic but will do for a few nights - quite a trek down the hall to the shared bathroom though! I walked up to the zoo and registered for the 8th International Penguin Conference, and got a huge wad of freebies including back-pack, t-shirt, pen, USB stick, highlighter, stickers etc as well as agenda and abstracts. We had chance for a quick wander round the zoo, then had an informal ice breaker consisting of a glass of wine, canapes and networking.

Today the conference started officially up at the main university building. There was an introduction by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, then the talks began. I attended the morning and late afternoon sessions, but being self funding didn't feel obliged to stay for all the lectures. The standout lectures for me were on the power of poo (Julie McInnes et al) which looked at DNA analysis of both penguins and their prey by examining penguin poop. This is much less invasive than stomach flushing, which has traditionally been used to examine prey eaten, but can harm penguins and their chicks as their food is taken away.

Another interesting talk was on minimising nest disturbance, and using heat sensitive dots to monitor when an egg is being sat on, ie. a breeding nest is occupied.

I took a few hours off after lunch and had a wander around Bristol.  I managed to find a few of the Gromit statues - I won't have time or transport to find all 80 or so, but it was good fun and exercise looking for them. It was quite warm out, especially after climbing to the top of Cabot Tower, though there was a nice cool breeze and amazing views at the top.

The last session of the day was in the evening and was a series of short presentations from various conservation groups and charities, including SANCCOB that I visited and would love to do so again. It was good to get a slightly different, less scientific, perspective on practical steps being taken to help the penguins.

I haven't managed to get much studying done today, but have a few hours free in the morning.