NEWS
Expedition Shark 6 is Coming Your Way!
Experience the best diving that the Philippines has to offer while making an impact in marine conservation.
From June 7 to 15, join renowned shark and ray experts from LAMAVE on a research expedition to Tubbataha Reefs to illuminate the truth behind the behavior and ecology of some of the most iconic marine megafauna in Asia.
This year we are opening five (5) spots for anyone who wants to join the expedition. Send us an email to reserve your spot now!
The Reef of Your Dreams
The Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park is one of the last remaining refuges for sharks on the planet. It provides a shelter for a wide variety of threatened and protected marine species, and redistributes life into the surrounding waters. This rare beacon of hope in Southeast Asia represents an oceanic oasis at the heart of an overexploited, overfished desert. It is a vestige of what the oceans once were, and a brilliant model for what they should be again.
LAMAVE and the Tubbataha Management Office (TMO) have been monitoring the sharks and rays of Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park (TRNP) since 2015, which marked the first Expedition Shark. The research focused on shark abundance, diversity and movement using a combination of Remote Underwater Video Surveys (RUVS), underwater visual census (UVC) and satellite tracking. This research documented incredibly high numbers of reefs sharks in the park when compared with other marine protected areas (MPAs) around the world, highlighting the importance of large, well-managed marine protected areas like TRNP for their conservation. In 2016 the team tagged the first tiger shark in the coral triangle, while on-going research focuses on building the country’s largest acoustic network to monitor the movements and behaviour of tagged reef mantas, grey reef sharks and tiger sharks.
What’s Around the Corner
This year’s expedition will continue this research between June 7 - 15 and will explore the secrets behind the conservation value of this reef, revealing the key to repopulating sharks in the Coral Triangle. How are tiger sharks using marine protected areas like Tubbataha? Is it home to the country’s largest tiger shark aggregation? Where do the whale sharks that frequent this reef travel to, and are they venturing into the dangerous waters of the South China Sea to reproduce? Join us now to find the answers and be a part of the solution.
Beyond Diving
There are only five available slots for guests aboard the vessel, with each slot costing $3000.00. These funds will be used to help facilitate operational and research costs of the expedition. The expedition includes full room and board, up to 3 dives a day, training and education on marine conservation and ecology, and exclusive access to frontline research to modern conservation techniques, technology, and knowledge.
The team conducting an Underwater Visual Census (UVC). Photo by Steve De Neef
As a guest member of our team aboard the research vessel RV Navorca, you will have the opportunity work alongside a team of shark and ray experts to:
Conduct Underwater Visual Census (UVC) to understand changes in shark abundance over time at the park.
Participate in photo-identification of marine megafauna including turtles, manta rays, and whale sharks.
Help deploy acoustic tags on tiger and grey reef sharks to understand site fidelity and inter reef movements.
Retrieve and download data from the acoustic listening stations