Steve Peletz presents a photographic tour of scientific research expeditions in the Eastern Pacific to tag and track migratory sharks. Steve will discuss the science and biologists’ success advocating for more and larger marine protected areas (MPA’s) in the face of drastic overfishing in the area. Learn about today’s conservation battles in the Americas, next steps for researchers, and what ordinary citizens can do to help slow the carnage.

Volunteer research divers (community scientists) help biologists who identify shark migration patterns, then use that information to convince policymakers in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Ecuador to establish, enlarge and connect MPA’s in the Pacific. Habitat protection is critical to combat overfishing and illegal fishing of endangered species.

Steve Peletz is a research diver, underwater photographer and freelance journalist currently working on a film about shark conservation. He taught scientific research diving at UC Berkeley, later began photographing and filming whales, dolphins, sharks and manta rays around the world. Today, Steve assists shark, turtle, and ray biologists at Migramar as they tag and track migratory species in the Eastern Pacific.