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History of IMATA

In February of 1972, a one-day workshop of experienced marine mammal trainers was organized by the Naval Undersea Research and Development Center in San Diego, California. The 15 invited trainers in attendance agreed that it would be beneficial to hold another similar workshop. Thus, in November of 1972, the 2^nd Marine Mammal Trainer Workshop was held in Palos Verdes, California. This time it was a two-day event, which included a visit to the host facility, Marineland of the Pacific. Twenty-one trainers attended the 2^nd Workshop. At the end of the meeting it was suggested that perhaps an organization of trainers should be formed to conduct these meetings on an annual basis. A committee was tasked to look into that possibility. In the meantime, planning for a 3^rd Workshop began.

In 1973, thirty-one trainers gathered in Redwood City, California for the 3^rd Marine Mammal Trainers Workshop, hosted by Marine World Africa USA. It was there that a constitution was formed and IMATA officially became an organization. Thus, the 3^rd Workshop became the 1^st Annual Conference.

There have been a number of important milestones in IMATA's history. The following is a brief list of some of the highlights, in chronological order:

FEB 1972	1st Marine Mammal Trainer Workshop
NOV 1973	A constitution is adopted and IMATA is born. IMATA's 1st President is Kent Burgess
IMATA in the '70s
DEC 1974	1st Conference outside of California is held at SeaWorld of Florida
APR 1976	Volume 1, Issue 1 of Soundings is published (over the years it has taken on various formats, but continues to be an important source of information for IMATA membership)
SEP 1976	Jim Corey wins a contest for designing the IMATA logo
OCT 1976	IMATA leaves the mainland United States and heads to Hawaii for its 4th annual conference
NOV 1977	Office of President-Elect is created
DEC 1978	IMATA develops a Code of Ethics to promote the Association's goals and ideals and to foster a professional trainers' image
NOV 1979	1st Behavior of the Year Award is won by Carol Chang of Sea Life Park
APR 1980	Legislative Committee is formed, forerunner of today's L.I.P. committee (Legislation, Information and Policy), responsible for keeping abreast of current legislation
NOV 1981	Major changes made in constitution with the addition of by-laws, deemed necessary by the Executive Board to keep up with IMATA's growth
JAN 1982	Jay Sweeney writes his first "Clinic's Corner" column for Soundings, answering various health and medical questions relative to marine mammal care
SEP 1983	Legislative Committee becomes the L.I.P. committee headed by Jack Pearson. It is organized to seriously address the growing number of issues facing the marine mammal community. The L.I.P. Committee was formed partly in response to growing misconceptions about animals in zoos and aquariums raised at that summer's "Whales Alive" Conference in Boston
IMATA in the '80s
JAN 1984	The L.I.P. Committee report makes its debut in Soundings and includes a new column, "Protect Our Image", to aid trainers in presenting themselves in a professional and knowledgeable manner
JUN 1984	IMATA sends Jack Pearson as a Non-Government Observer (NGO) to the International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting - since then IMATA has sent a representative to the IWC every year
JAN 1985	"Regional Reports" make their debut in Soundings, introduced by President Austin McDevitt to allow members to keep up with goings-on at facilities around the world
JUN 1986	IMATA develops a brochure to explain to the public the Association's position on the holding of marine mammals in controlled environments and why they should be displayed, trained, and studied
SEP 1986	IMATA gives a presentation at the National Conference of the American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums on recent advances in marine mammal husbandry training
OCT 1986	The first IMATA Conference held outside the United States is hosted by the Vancouver Public Aquarium - although not a distant move outside the U.S., it was a significant first step
JUN 1987	IMATA sends a delegation to the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) for the first time, marking another milestone in IMATA's becoming truly international in scope
OCT 1987	IMATA successfully holds its first conference without a host facility in New Orleans, Louisiana, an indication that the association was getting large enough to stand on its own
NOV 1987	Joan Caron serves as first female Vice President of the organization
FEB 1988	Membership passes the 500 mark, with members in 18 countries
OCT 1988	San Antonio conference, hosted by SeaWorld of Texas is the first conference to have over 200 in attendance
OCT 1989	IMATA hosts its first conference in Europe in Amsterdam, Holland, surpassing expectations with over 200 attendees for the second consecutive year
OCT 1990	Membership tops 800 and the Chicago conference sets a new attendance record
OCT 1990	Behavior of the Year Award is retired with a Behavior of the Decade competition won by Dan Shinder of Naval Ocean Systems Center. New Honors and Awards competition committee is begun
OCT 1990	With a vote of confidence from the membership at the Chicago conference, IMATA undertakes the task of creating a new constitution to, once again, keep up with IMATA's growth
OCT 1990	IMATA changes from a Behavior of the Year Award Ceremony to an honors & awards format acknowledging excellent contributions in five different categories
IMATA in the '90s
MAY 1991	IMATA's officers conduct the first mid-year Executive Board Meeting in Chicago hosted by Shedd Aquarium. Deemed necessary by all attending, it is now an annual event
OCT 1991	Membership tops 900
OCT 1991	Due to rising membership numbers, IMATA publishes its first membership directory
NOV 1991	The Executive Board conducts a two-day planning session to identify both long and short-term goals to determine IMATA's future
NOV 1991	The Executive Board approves the creation of a Publications Committee to assume the responsibility of publishing all official IMATA publications. An Editorial Advisory Board is selected and John Kirtland is named as Soundings first official editor
MAR 1992	Randy Brill, representing IMATA, addresses the 20th Annual Symposium of the European Association for Aquatic Mammals (EAAM) and establishes a policy of reciprocation between EAAM and IMATA
MAY 1992	Membership dues were increased for the first time since 1985
MAY 1992	The Executive Board approves the documents necessary for IMATA's incorporation and tax-exempt status
MAY 1992	IMATA establishes membership subcommittees in Europe, Australia, Israel, and Argentina
NOV 1992	IMATA hosts its 20th annual Conference in the Bahamas. The conference, the largest in IMATA's history with nearly 300 delegates, was also the third held outside the United States
NOV 1992	After two years of effort, the Executive Board approves new Bylaws and a new Code of Ethics for IMATA. The new decision receives a vote of confidence from the voting membership. Under the new Bylaws, the old six-member Executive Board is replaced by a new nine-member Board of Directors
NOV 1992	IMATA establishes a central mailing address, in San Diego, California, USA
DEC 1992	The L.I.P. Committee and the Animal Training Advisory Committee submit guidelines for Animal Training Standards to the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums
IMATA in the '90s
MAR 1993	IMATA is officially incorporated in the State of California
JUL 1993	John Kirtland represents IMATA on a panel of expert witnesses offering testimony before the U.S. Congress regarding the re-authorization of the Marine Mammal Protection Act
JUL 1993	IMATA becomes recognized as a tax-exempt corporation in the State of California
AUG 1993	After nearly 18 years, Soundings dramatically changes its format and publishes its first issue in color
AUG 1994	IMATA publishes first issue of peer reviewed journal; Marine Mammals: Public Display and Research
NOV 1994	Two delegates from Russia attend the  22nd  annual conference
NOV 1994	Cheryl Messinger serves as first female President of the organization
NOV 1994	Steve Romer becomes the first non-USA member to be elected into an office of the Board of Directors
NOV 1995	23rd annual Conference in Las Vegas sets new attendance record with nearly 400 delegates from 18 countries
NOV 1996	First conference held in Southern Hemisphere, hosted by Sea World of Australia
MAY 1997	IMATA's central office moves from San Diego to Chicago, Illinois
AUG 1997	Sonny Allen, one of IMATA's founding members and past-president of the organization, passes away. IMATA's new Lifetime Achievement Award, to be given at the 1997 conference would be renamed the Sonny Allen Professional Achievement Award
OCT 1997	25th annual Conference held in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, hosted by The National Aquarium in Baltimore. Coinciding with the anniversary conference is publication of an additional, special 25th anniversary issue of Soundings.  Members click here to view this issue.
OCT 1997	The 1st Sonny Allen Professional Achievement Award goes to Dr. Randy Brill
NOV 1998	IMATA's annual conference, held in Europe for the second time, hosted by Zoomarine in Portugal
DEC 1999	27th annual Conference held in Chicago features two potentially historic topics. Trainer Accreditation was introduced to the membership for comments before implementation. IMATA began to explore better ways to embrace animal training of all taxa, with over a dozen papers presented on terrestrial animal training
OCT 2000	28th annual Conference held in Playa del Carmen, Mexico and hosted by Via Delphi of Xcaret. Record attendance was achieved for a conference held outside the United States
IMATA Today
OCT 2001	29th annual Conference held in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This was a no-host conference and despite the historic world events, the conference was well attended
NOV 2002	30th annual Conference held in Orlando. Record attendance
NOV 2003	31st annual Conference held in Long Beach, California. First IMATA sanctioned training seminars are held prior to the conference. Seminars were taught by Ken Ramirez
OCT 2004	32nd annual Conference held in Kolmarden, Sweden. New award entitled Editor's Choice Award created to encourage members to submit well-written abstracts in the new expanded abstract form
NOV 2005	33rd annual Conference held in Duck Key, Florida. New logo as designed by Lunar Cow is debuted to the membership
NOV 2006	34th annual Conference is held in Hawaii
NOV 2007	The 35th annual Conference was held in Indianapolis, Indiana, marking a major anniversary for IMATA
OCT 2008	An updated Web site is launched with Lunar Cow
NOV 2008	36th annual Conference is to be held in Cancun, Mexico