The SharksCount Program is joining forces with Pangaea Exploration to log shark sightings across the Line Islands of the Pacific aboard Sea Dragon, August 14 – September 5, 2012. And you can join us! This is an amazing opportunity as some of the islands, such as Palmyra are home to extremely healthy apex predator populations due to years of protection and exclusive visitation by permit only.
As the Pangaea Exploration team explains, “Palmyra Atoll, a US Fish and Wildlife protected area, is one of the few places on the planet that exhibits an inverted pyramid of biomass – hordes of apex predators; gray and whitetip reef sharks, red snappers and rapid turnover of prey – the healthiest of marine ecosystems. (See this Nat Geo article for more http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/07/kingman-reef/warne-text)
We’ll provide divers and crew with tools to log and document important shark sighting data. The information will be shared with our partners in support of both scientific publications and local conservation initiatives. Join the team of scientist, photographers, and journalists for three weeks of diving, sharks, fun, and conservation!
Emily Penn, Programme Director for Pangaea Explorations commented “We are excited about our partnership with Shark Savers. This important expedition to the remote Line Islands will allow us help document shark sightings in some of the most pristine ocean ecosystems remaining on the planet today. We can’t wait to share what we learn!”
Join us on our inaugural partnership-trip and be a part of this amazing, history-making expedition while enjoying some of the greatest diving where few have ever been. There are only a few spots left, so book yours TODAY! You can find out more about the expedition, August 14 - September 5, 2012 at: http://www.panexplore.com/2012-expeditions/jul-northern-line-islands
About Shark Savers’ SharksCount Program: SharksCount engages divers as ‘citizen scientists’ for sharks. We empower divers to count and identify the sharks that they see on their recreational dives; and log dives where/when they don’t see sharks. SharksCount provides the tools to log and share shark sightings with us for scientific and conservation applications.
About Pangaea Exploration: Pangaea Exploration operates the expedition sailing vessel Sea Dragon. During 2010-11 Sea Dragon sailed a staggering 35,000 miles across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans carrying out important research on the state of the marine environment.
