Shark Scientist Discovery Program
Spend a Day as a Shark Scientist
Join us for a full day on the water and experience what life is like for marine biologists conducting real shark and ray field research.
Participants join our research team aboard one of our vessels and assist with ongoing field projects studying local shark and stingray populations.
You’ll gain hands-on experience in real marine research, including:
• Assisting with baiting gear and setting longlines or nets
• Helping safely process sharks and rays alongside marine biologists
• Recording scientific data
• Learning tagging and research techniques used in ongoing studies
• Observing how real field research is conducted
This is a true working research day, not a sightseeing trip.
Schedule
Weekend Program Availability
Trips are available on weekends beginning in March and continue throughout the summer.
Trips are scheduled based on group interest and availability.
Group Size Requirements:
• Minimum group size:
3 participants
• Maximum group size:
6 participants
This small-group format ensures a safe, personal, and highly interactive experience for all participants.
Trip Schedule
Typical trip schedule runs approximately:
10:00am – 2:00 PM
Trips depart from and return to our local marina facility. Exact meeting location, arrival instructions, and packing recommendations are provided after booking confirmation.
Trips may be rescheduled due to weather or unsafe boating conditions.
Fees
Day trip fees are $149 per day per person.
Our Current Research
We are currently planning on tagging sharks and rays with identification tags, passive integrated transponder tags (PIT) tags as we have for the last 15 years in this area to determine their geographic distribution. We have been documenting the shark and ray species found in this part of Florida, determining population sizes, determining age structure within a population, determining sex ratio within a population, observing site fidelity of individuals, and any changes in population sizes that occur during this study. We are looking for possible interactions between the populations of different species. We work with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission on sea turtle monitoring in our area and share our data with FWC, NOAA, and the Florida Division of Parks and Recreation.