Planning is such an exciting part of a trip. Deciding where to go and dive next or what fish you have to travel half way around the world to capture a glimpse of.
How far would you travel to see a shark? 6,922 miles to Malapascua? (a cleaning station at Monad Shoal around 30 metres down) Jump in the water at 6am so you can get a pretty much guaranteed sighting of these normally elusive sharks on nearly a daily basis.
Yep, me too!
So what’s different this time?
This time I want to learn, to develop skills in the field and most importantly use my free time to help an NGO.
So here I am, day 1 at SASC Hermanus, South Africa.
The South African Shark Conservancy (SASC) is an NGO based in Hermanus, Western Cape. Formed in 2007, SASC has become globally recognised for its work on sharks and ocean ecosystems. They employ a holistic and inclusive research approach, working to promote the sustainable use and informed conservation of living marine resources. In addition to their research, SASC is the parent company of the Shark Academy which is their skills development and training division, offering exceptional training opportunities for early career scientists and conservationists.
Today started early, we got to the lab at 7am, the pumps had failed the day before so the bigger sharks had to be released leaving just the four recently hatched pups.
We refilled the tanks with sand from the beach outside and then water, the water is pumped directly from the ocean.
The egg cases come from the sharks that lay them on sight they are not taken from the ocean, the bigger sharks are held for a week or so for data purposes and to educate locals and tourists before being released.
Feeding the pups was so much fun, they are seriously cute!
The rest of the day we spent learning about the different types of tags will be used and how we catch the sharks in order to tag and release them with minimal stress. Then the type of data and skin samples which need to be collected from each catch and how important this research is for the survival of these vulnerable species.
I can’t wait for tomorrow….
becdiving 
I like your writing style and what you are doing, no doubt your skills are developing. Keep up the good work
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