Conference and Operation Pond - Part 2

At the beginning of this month I spent a lovely week in Belgium attending the annual conference of the European Cetacean Society. I made a quick stop in Brussels before heading to Liége for a week of catching up with friends, old and new, attending interesting talks, and presenting my first scientific poster! I presented some data regarding the presence of Risso's dolphins (Grampus griseus) around the Isle of Man. I worked on analysing these data following my work with Manx Whale and Dolphin Watch last summer. Of course, a fair quantity of chocolate and beer was consumed, too, but this didn't interfere with the science in any way!

Liége by night

Liége Aquarium-Museum

After returning from Belgium I was keen to crack on completing Operation Pond. Suspecting that it would soon rain I wanted to get the hole filled and the liner replaced to use the rain to start refilling the pond. So, two trips to the garden centre to get some soil and we're back in business. The old liner was still in great condition so could be reused, and the full rain butt was emptied in to allow it to refill.

New soil in

Liner back in 

So, it's all going pretty well but I have a busy week at work now, so the pond will have to wait again. Then I need to finish off the edges to secure the liner, and think about introducing some new plants to pond2.0.