Dear SMM community,
Some of you have seen news coverage of the water rationing affecting parts of metropolitan San Juan, which has raised some concerns from our community. Here are some important facts to consider.
Puerto Rico is experiencing its driest conditions in over a century, and the water authority (PRASA) has implemented rotating 48-hour water cutoffs in several residential communities around San Juan. The hotel and conference district — Condado, Isla Verde, and Old San Juan — is not part of this rotation.
These properties operate on independent water cisterns, and the Puerto Rico Tourism Company has been supplementing them with regular tanker deliveries to ensure normal service for guests. Conditions are expected to ease seasonally by September, ahead of our conference in October.
We are monitoring the situation and will update you if anything changes that affects the conference.
In the meantime, here are some useful websites to visit:
- PRASA service alerts: www.acueductospr.com
- U.S. Drought Monitor (Puerto Rico): droughtmonitor.unl.edu
- Your hotel’s guest communications — confirm with your specific property, as practices vary
- Puerto Rico Tourism Company advisories: www.discoverpuertorico.com
We will send another update roughly 4–6 weeks before the conference. Until then, please keep your travel plans as booked — San Juan’s tourism infrastructure was built to keep functioning through exactly this kind of disruption.
Sincerely,
The SMM2026 Conference Organizing Committee
on behalf of the Society for Marine Mammalogy
Antonio Mignucci-Giannoni, Conference Co-Chair
Anmari Álvarez-Aleman, Conference Co-Chair
Daniel Gonzalez-Socoloske, Scientific Program Co-Chair
Nataly Castelblanco-Martínez, Scientific Program Co-Chair
Jeremy J. Kiszka, SMM President
