Working with our Partners Pelagios Kakunjáwww.pelagioskakunja.org/ , we have several research sites that we travel to in order to study a variety of species. The overarching goal is to study and protect sharks and mantas in Mexico, many of which are globally endangered. Our collaborations aim to provide technical information for the regional management and implementation of conservation strategies for these species here in Mexico. Current areas and species of focus are:

Cabo Pulmo is a National Park (marine reserve) situated on the southeast coast of the Baja California peninsula, approximately 100 km north of Cabo San Lucas, and is home to the oldest reef in the American coast of the Pacific Ocean. The overarching goals of our collaboration at this location are to understand movement patterns and residency of bull, blacktip and lemon sharks and if this area is serving as a potential gestation grounds for females.

Guadalupe Island has recently been recognized as one of the most important aggregation sites of great white sharks in the Eastern Pacific, where this species can be studied easily due to the clarity of water and seasonal predictability. The presence of white sharks in these aggregation sites make them vulnerable to their capture that could lead to a regional population decline. These sites are important for the monitoring of this species because individuals sharks can be easily recognized.

Here we are working together to to investigate white shark reproductive biology and how this connects movement patterns and habitat preference within and outside the Island.

Playa del Carmen is a city in the Mexican Caribbean 68km south from Cancun in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. Washed by turquoise warm Caribbean waters boasts beautiful coral reefs nearby and seasonal aggregations of whale sharks to the north and bull sharks just meters off the beach. Here we are collaborating to understand movement patterns and residency of female bull sharks and link this to reproductive patterns.

The Revillagigedo Archipelagos a marine predator refuge in the Mexican Pacific. It is a habitat of utmost importance that contains one of the richest insular shark faunas in the Eastern Tropical Pacific, where you can observe up to five different species in a single dive. Here were are working together to understand movement patterns, inter-island connectivity, use by reproductive stage, and residency of Galapagos and silver tip sharks.