Despite incredibly warm waters, part of the building El Niño conditions, our whale shark team, led by Turtle Island’s Science Director Alex Hearn and Jonathan Green, have finally encountered whale sharks at Darwin Arch in the Galapagos Islands.
Dr. Hearn prepares for a research dive.
Dr. Hearn diving with research equipment to track whale sharks in the Galapagos.
The team will now be trying to attach satellite tags to the whale sharks to discover whether the climatic conditions cause them to change their migratory route.
The team reports also seeing huge schools of scalloped hammerheads at Darwin’s Arch. They will be at the Arch for three more days conducting research before heading back to port.
This cutting-edge research and conservation initiative was supported by the Dalio Ocean Initiative (DOI), a foundation committed to protecting ocean health and improving our stewardship of the marine world. In support of these pioneering efforts, the DOI offered Turtle Island the use of it’s state-of-the-art ship the Alucia.
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