Centre for Research on Indian Ocean Marine Mammals
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CRIOMM was established in 1982 as a marine mammal research center under the auspices of IOMAC with support from NARA.
An institutional focus for interested persons, especially the scientific community, to interact with others, sharing similar interests. In the early 1980s, Sri Lanka became the focus of international attention as a result of the realization that there was an unusual occurrence of the great whales off its coasts, especially off Trincomalee. With the growing influx of scientists and tourists interes
ted in whales, it was decided to provide an institutional focus for interested persons, especially the scientific community, to interact with others, sharing similar interests and also to develop Indian Ocean regional skills in marine mammal management – in effect a marine mammal research centre. Dr. Hiran Jayewardene, then founder chairman of NARA established the National Marine Mammal Programme (NMMP) and the Center for Research on Indian Ocean Marine Mammals (CRIOMM), having convened the first International Symposium on the Marine Mammals of the Indian Ocean in 1983. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) provided initial support for the program in respect of research and capacity building. This was followed by the establishment of Indian Ocean Marine Affairs Co-operation (IOMAC) to provide more focus to marine affairs in the region. In 1983, CRIOMM set up a field station at Clappenburg Bay in Trincomalee under the auspices of IOMAC with support from NARA. An international advisory panel was constituted to guide its work. IOMAC is once more reviving the activities of CRIOMM that had been suspended with the breakdown of the security situation in the mid 1980s.
