As part of my directed studies I’ve decided to take part in ‘The Shark Odyssey’ This is a shark conservation volunteer program located in La Paz, Baja California Sur that consists of three modules: Whale sharks in La Paz bay, Bull Sharks in Cabo Pulmo National Park, and Pelagic sharks off the coast of Cabo San Lucas. Today was our first day and ,together with two other volunteers, we had a brief introduction into the program as well as the biology of the ‘ Sea of Cortez’. This is an incredibly diverse marine ecosystem where you can find over 900 fish species, a huge diversity of shark species, as well as almost one third of all marine mammals. The main focus of this program is to develop long-term monitoring practices of shark populations in order to help with conservation efforts in the area. Needless to say, I am beyond excited to take part in this project and I am hoping to learn a lot!
Tomorrow we will have a Whale Shark seminar that will prepare us for our fieldwork in the next couple of days.
