David Farmer, the Chairman, welcomed attendees and explained the origins of the working group and the involvement of the Sloan Foundation. He outlined progress made during, and since, the first meeting in Dunsmuir Lodge in November 2000 and drew attention to the group’s web site. He explained that the WG’s main objective was to identify the major technical challenges confronting observers of marine life. To do this the group was seeking an active dialogue with scientists responsible for cutting edge research projects, including initially the leaders of the six Census of Marine Life (CoML) Pilot Projects.