For the last three years, I have been traveling extensively with one goal in mind: to learn as much as possible about the shark diving industry and the companies at the forefront of shark ecotourism. This mission has taken me to many well known shark diving hotspots such as Fiji, Australia, Mexico and The Bahamas, where it is possible to encounter some of the world most iconic species, and as the popularity of this activity continues to increase, other destinations are now beginning to explore the possibility of diving with sharks.   It was during a stopover in Florida, on my way to the B ..read more

Shark and ray tourism can be a powerful and effective tool for marine conservation, but only if it is done in a responsible way. For us that means: safe, respectful and educational.   In Panama, the shark and ray tourism industry is slowly growing. Places like Coiba National Park and Bocas del Toro are full of elasmobrachs and sooner or later will have more operators offering encounters with these species.   The MarViva Foundation, inspired by the new guide of Shark and Ray Tourism created by Manta Trust, WWF and Project Aware, decided to step in an ..read more

Venezuela, one of seventeen mega-diverse nations in the world, has all the required components needed to start our project: a great diversity of sharks, local fishermen, an advantageous geographical location for tourism and stunning natural attractions.   Having the largest oil reserve on the planet should lead to economic success and a decent quality of life for most of its citizens, but the reality is shockingly different. Its 30 million residents are facing dire food and medicine shortages, frequent power outages, serious political unrest, astronomical inflation, rampant violent crime ..read more

I love sharks and they are my business, but there is another important reason why me and my partner chose to name our project “Shark Business”: Our belief is that society and business can thrive by investing in nature. Making conservation profitable is perhaps the most realistic way of solving many environmental problems.   Planning how best to mitigate threats and foster the recovery of biodiversity requires an understanding of the human social, political, and economic systems in which conservation operates. Insufficient planning for these realities leads to the failu ..read more

After wrapping up my scholarship year in New York in April I returned to Panama to explore Coiba National Park, a marine reserve on the Pacific coast. I had heard during my previous visit to Panama that the diving there was amazing and there was a good chance of finding sharks in the waters surrounding the park.   Rumours of Hammerheads, Bull sharks and even Tigers had inspired me to explore further and the goal of the trip was to evaluate its potential as a place to start my shark conservation project. I planned to deploy underwater cameras and investigate as many dive sites ar ..read more