Dear Conch-L'ers,

Yesterday and today most Dutch subscribers of Vita Marina received their
vol. 47(3) together with the Spirula newsletter.
On the cover of the newsletter the news about Vita Marina is expressed as
follows:

You will not find an appealing illustration on the cover of this issue of
Spirula; instead you will see a 'dear subscriber' message. The reason is a
very serious matter that we wish to share with you today: the
discontinuation of the Vita Marina.

After a decision making process that the board of the Foundation Biologia
Maritima - publisher of Vita Marina and Spirula - discussed over several
sessions during the last two months, it was decided to stop the publication
of Vita Marina after the 4th issue of volume 47. The reason for this is
primarily financial but also has to do with staffing. For
about 10 years and seven volumes we have tried to increase the number of
subscribers and reduce costs so that we could publish Vita Marina in the
most cost effective way. However, it is only because of other commercial
activities that we have survived while the number of subscribers has slowly
decreased, despite marketing activities such as the Snail Pack mailing.

People regularly express their appreciation and respect for the quality of
our work but the current formula does not appeal to many others who find it
too 'scientific' or boring, despite the quality. Many alternatives have
been discussed but the bi-lingual nature of the magazine and the size of
the market we operate in made us decide to stop at a moment when we still
are able to offer good value.

We have not yet decided how we will proceed with our newsletter Spirula.
Any ideas from you on this will be appreciated. We hope to hear from you!
The board


To answer Helmut's question: I am not 100% sure; during the last joint
meeting of the board of the Biologia Maritima foundation and the editorial
staff of Vita Marina, Jan Paul Buys expressed that he was willing to
continue tje web site. For any questions concerning that topic, it would be
best to contact Jan Paul directly through
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Al the best for 2001

Gijs C. Kronenberg
member editorial staff Vita Marina