The Thresher Shark Project

research assistants will be based on Malapascua Island (Cebu) and shuttled to Monad Shoal aboard a dedicated research vessel. Ops will run from 05:00 to 20:00 five days a week and include SCUBA survey, underwater video observation, tagging (pending funding) and photographic ID databasing. Evenings will be spent in academics, training, reviewing video observations, analysing data for scientific paper writing, and preparing for the next dayâ??s ops. All volunteer research assistants will receive comprehensive hands on training in shark research methodology, marine wildlife photography, marine videography and analytical approaches to understanding shark behaviour. Assistants will also receive academics in shark biology, ecology, conservation and ethology (behaviour) and will apply learned concepts to the analysis of real data that they acquire on a daily basis. Accepted candidates will benefit from a close working relationship with a specialist.

 

Volunteering as a Research Assistant involves hard work. Typically you rise at 05:00, load the boat and head out to Monad at 05:30. You start your first dive at 06:00 and survey the shoal and its five established cleaning stations. You then take environmental measurements, set the observation camera and spend the rest of your dive attempting to observe Pelagic thresher sharks. If you have an encounter with a shark, you establish if it is a male or female, estimate its size by class, and record any cleaning activity you observe on a dedicated slate. You then return to the boat for a 2 hour surface interval. At 09:00 you start your second dive, swap cameras, take environmental measurements and spend the rest of your dive seeking to observe Pelagic thresher sharks as before. Your third and final dive (12:00) is an optional observation dive where you seek to observe and record Pelagic thresher sharks via handheld video and still cameras. You then return to Malapascua Island for lunch and are given a 1.5 hour break. Tank filling, gear maintenance, academics, training, data review and analysis begin around 15:30 and carry on until around 20:00. You then have supper and relax before retiring for the night to do it all over again the next day. Weekends are dry days which involve data review and analysis, restocking, rest and recovery.* When funding becomes available expeditions will involve tagging operations. These will be incorporated into diving and dedicated weekend fishing ops.

We are the only accredited scientists to have conducted, and who continue to conduct scientific research on thresher sharks in the Malapascua area. We are also the only scientists to be currently working on thresher sharks in the Philippines. We are a NOT-FOR-PROFIT research organisation and are not political. Our opinions, if we have any, are derived exclusively from the integrity of our work, all of which is peer reviewed. Collectively we bring expertise in shark biology, ecology, ethology (behaviour), conservation, scientific diving, coral reefs, oceanography, marine environmental protection and coastal zone management. Our academic competency in the area of thresher shark behaviour and biology, and shark cleaning symbiosis is unrivalled. * VISIT The Thresher Shark Research and Conservation Project at http://www.threshersharkproject.org *

To promote and disseminate shark research, education and conservation to a broad local, regional and international public and scientific outreach.