Participate in meaningful shark and ocean research at our shark science and training center. Our volunteers and interns gain valuable field experience while contributing directly to shark and marine conservation.
Your Shark Research Volunteer EcoAdventure
This EcoAdventure is an exciting opportunity for you to get involved with meaningful shark and marine research in the beautiful country of South Africa! You will not only have the opportunity to contribute to conservation, research, and education initiatives in a location unlike any other in the world, but you will have the chance to come face to face with many of the amazing species that inhabit our beautiful coastline.
For over 15 years, we have been training students, early career scientists, and other shark and ocean lovers. Our skills development, research, and training division will give you insight into shark science and conservation via hands-on field and lab experiences. Volunteers and interns actively participate in our research activities daily throughout the ecoadventure.
We concentrate our shark and marine research in the Overberg coastal region. This area is a world-renowned whale hotspot. It is also a hub of marine biodiversity, including shark life.
Here, we have been studying the ecosystem levels of 62 regional species of sharks, stingrays, skates, and chimera. Recently, we have also begun studying the movement ecology of the critically endangered soupfin shark.
To date, our non-profit organisation has:
- Tagged over 3000 sharks across 27 different species.
- Trained close to 550 early-career marine scientists
Conducted critical research leading to establishing South Africa’s only bull shark-protected area.
- Assist with shark tagging
- Deploy, collect, and analyse baited remote underwater video systems (BRUVs)
- Help with ecological surveys
- Run focal surveys on great white sharks
- Do shark diversity research
- Assist with data analysis and database
- Conventional tagging
- Baited remote underwater video (BRUV)
- Drone surveys
- Diversity surveys
- Fisheries assessments
- Acoustic telemetry
- Conservation genetics
- Trophic ecology
We run two separate shark research EcoAdventures: a volunteer programme and an internship. Anyone over 18 can apply to our shark science research and training programmes. However, which one you choose depends on your specific interests and goals.
Our two-week volunteer programme caters to all shark and ocean lovers interested in learning about sharks and gaining practical field and research skills.
Our eight-week internship programme is a more research-intensive programme designed to equip interns with practical field and data collection skills.
Email [email protected] to find out more and pick the right programme for you.
What Species Could You See?
- Bronze whaler sharks
- Spotted gully sharks
- Soupfin sharks
- Pyjama sharks
- Leopard cat sharks
- Shy sharks
- Great white sharks
- Stingrays
- Dolphins
- Cape fur seals
- Penguins
- Petrels
- Cormorants
- Whales (seasonal)
Itinerary
Changes daily depending on weather and sea conditions
What do you need to bring?
Our shark research volunteer and intern programmes run from one week to several months. We have put together a comprehensive list of items we advise volunteers to bring with them. Email us to find out more.
Why Take an Ecoadventure With Us?
Committed to Conservation
Our passionate scientists, field experts, interns, and volunteers share a common goal: protecting sharks and the ocean for the long term. Conservation is what drives us first and foremost. For this reason, we focus our programmes on shark field research. Capturing data critical to sharks’ long-term well-being is at the core of our objectives.
Safety and Standards First
Along with research and conservation, safety, quality, and ethics are at the top of our agenda. Our scientists and crew all have years of experience working with sharks and on the ocean. They oversee all aspects of our programme and never compromise on safety and quality standards. Additionally, they are always on hand to address any questions or concerns you may have during your time with us.
Credits
Depending on your educational institute, you may be able to gain credits towards your degree by volunteering or interning with us.