Divers and scientists from across the world gathered in Alpena September 12 - 17 for the annual American Academy of Underwater Sciences symposium.
Stephanie Gandulla is a spokesperson for the Sanctuary. She said the symposium focused on the importance of educating scientists on good diving practices.
“A lot of presentations they are talking about this week is how to mitigate any unsafe practices and how to more efficiently collect more samples.”
Gandulla said they were able to draw the symposium to Alpena with their world class equipment.
“One of the main reasons they saw Alpena as a great place for their annual meeting is our newly refurbished, huge tank. It’s an 80ft diameter sixteen foot deep tank that holds 16-thousand gallons of water to test out these diving practices, to test out these technologies.”
Gandulla says there were roughly 130 people in attendance.
She says this is the first time the symposium has been held in Alpena.