Havana, June 29 (RHC)-- Margo McKnight, Vice President of Biological Resources at the Florida Aquarium in Tampa has described a trip to Cuba to advance a bi-national initiative for marine research and conservation in the Gulf of Mexico as a positive possibility.

In statements to Prensa Latina news agency, Margo McKnight said that during her upcoming visit to the Caribbean state she will meet with authorities and experts at the National Aquarium in Havana to discuss pollution and other risks threatening marine life in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as joint coral research.

A communique issued by the U.S. State Department notes that the upcoming meeting will be the first between experts from both countries aquariums since last November, when the Florida Aquarium in Tampa and the National Aquarium in Havana signed a memorandum of understanding for the protection and preservation of marine protected areas.