During the first International Workshop on Bioerosion on Bornholm in 1995, participants felt that it would be rewarding to hold the next meeting at a place facilitating field trips on the subject. For this reason, Fort Pierce in southern Florida was chosen, and Debra Krumm of Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution (HBOI) agreed to host the meeting.

The workshop at HBOI was attended by 24 scientists from 8 countries, Germany and the U.S. forming the major delegations with 8 people each. The expertise of participants focused on microbioerosion and on modern reef macroboring; a few people were specialists in xylic substrates. Twenty-nine oral contributions (see below for titles and authors) and six posters mirrored this distribution; they were thematically coherently grouped. Monday's subjects were basic processes and micro-bioerosion, Tuesday saw talks on woodborers and modern macroboring, and it was dealt with fossil examples on Wednesday and Thursday. There was ample time for discussion after the talks but frequently "hot" subjects had to be deferred to a proposed general session on Friday. Unfortunately, several participants departed too early, and hence a number of competent specialists were already missing before lunch. Despite this unlucky ending, an enormous need for basic research became very obvious, mainly in the fields of palaeontology and in controlled experiments to decipher steering factors of bioerosion.

According to the claimed desires of most participants, Debra Krumm had organised a number of highly instructive field trips. The best certainly was the pre-meeting drive down to the Florida Keys on the 27th of March. Staying in luxurious self-catering flats (a home-made meal was definitely fun), a (self-) chosen few had the opportunity to obtain a guided overview of the environmental zonation comprising various ecosystems in backreef positions (mangroves, seagrass meadows, mud flats, tidal channels) as well as the seaward habitats within the John Pennekamp State Park. Three joint snorkel tours and two dives from a chartered boat with a jolly skipper, however, mainly had a touristic character rather than being devoted to bioerosion. (One shouldn't do too much science all year round anyway...) Most rewarding in terms of holey corals was the morning on Windley Key at the abandoned quarry in Pleistocene reef limestone; neontologists and palaeontologists discussed their views of the phenomena observed--no one, however, could identify thin calcareous tubes within open bivalve borings.

On Wednesday afternoon, Debra Krumm took the party to the modern serpulid reefs at Bathtub Beach and Walton Rocks on the Atlantic coast. Both localities were rich in those fragile and highly interesting structures but offered little in terms of bioerosion apart from suffering severely from overeager scientists' footsteps. A place called House of Refuge showed a beautiful regressive succession with lots of plant root traces and interesting taphonomic phenomena. There even was time for a short walk in a mangrove forest on the brackish leeward side.

Thursday was almost entirely devoted to a trip to the South County Fill Pit at Boca Raton where the Pleistocene Anastasia Formation crops out. An incredible diversity of well-preserved molluscs in large numbers stunned everyone but most people's interest focused on the clionid borings in large shells; at least one hitherto unrecognized ichnospecies was found. In addition, palm wood bored by shipworms repeatedly attracted attention. Despite perfect three-dimensional outcrops packed with coquinas of different types, not a single taphonomic study seems to exist, let alone a systematic monograph. A friendly local amateur collector, however, was open to discussion, showed the best places and even gave away some of his impressive finds.

Even more remarkable than field-trips and talks perhaps was the quality of accommodation and the quantity of food and drinks served during the coffee breaks and meals; did anybody maintain her or his weight during the meeting? The stay at Harbor Branch was further made comfortable by a large pool (once site of a barbecue dinner) and by small electro-cabs that helped overcome the distances within the HBOI campus. Its relative proximity to major beaches facilitated additional pastime pleasures. The atmosphere among the participants hence was very cordial and open throughout, and as shown by a final presentation by Ana Fonseca and Markus Bertling, the meeting was a big success in bringing people together.

[Copies of the abstract volume are available from Dr. Debra Krumm, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, 5600 U.S. Highway 1 North, Fort Pierce, FL 34964, USA; email krumm@hboi.edu. The price is USD 15.00 for shipment addresses in the USA, and USD 20.00 for shipment to other countries. Please make checks payable to HBOI.]

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