A participant helps tag a blacktip shark.
David Shiffman
Marine Biologist, blogger, and science-tweeter David Shiffman sends word to Boing Boing readers of a wonderful opportunity to support shark research, and have a close encounter of your own with these beautiful creatures:
Have you always wanted to be a marine biologist? Have you been fascinated by sharks since you were young? For me, the answer to both questions is yes…and I’m currently living my childhood dream! I’d like to invite you to join me for a day of shark research with my lab, the University of Miami’s RJ Dunlap Marine Conservation Program (SharkTagging.com and Facebook.com/SharkTagging). I’m participating in the 4th SciFund Challenge (SciFundChallenge.org), a crowd-funding event for scientific research.
The reward for a $400 donation to my project is a day on our lab’s shark research boat!
Our participants don’t just sit back and watch. You’ll get to help with every aspect of the research, including fishing, measuring, tagging, and taking samples! You’ll also get a professional photograph of your shark encounter, which could be with any of a dozen species that our lab catches and tags throughout South Florida, including tiger sharks, bull sharks, and great hammerhead sharks.
My SciFund challenge project, which you’d be contributing to, uses a non-lethal technique to study the diet and food web interactions of these sharks species. This information is important for managers to help conserve and protect these species.
In addition to allowing you to join us for a day on the shark research boat, your donation will help support this marine conservation research! My project can be found here.
Please note that even though I have reached my minimum funding goal, we are still accepting additional funds and they will also be used exclusively for sample analysis fees.
Please let me know if you have any questions, in the comments, on twitter @WhySharksMatter, or on Facebook.com/WhySharksMatter.
Man this sounds fun. So, basically anyone who donates $400 or more is invited to come on an expedition. If any of our Boing Boing readers go, do let us know!