Are you a certified scuba diver planning to be in Costa Rica in December? How would you like to be an active participant in a selachian tagging project to augment the marine conservation efforts of Mision Tiburon (Shark Mission), a non-profit organization that works hard to protect the elasmobranch resources of Costa Rica? This may be your chance to get very close to hammerhead sharks, sea rays and other creatures that swim in our Southern Pacific waters.

According to an article by Pablo Rojas of online news daily CRHoy.com, Shark Mission is ready for this years’ tagging project. In 2012, about 50 volunteer divers helped to identify seven shark mating and feeding sites, plus they got to tag one shark and various sea rays. According to marine biologist Ileana Zanella from Shark Mission:

“Last year we conducted the first count, and in a few days we will begin the second one. The idea is to include volunteers who are certified divers to help us collect basic information about our diverse and abundant population of sharks and sea rays. The idea is to keep conducting these tagging project in the long-term so that we can identify trends in population counts.”

The volunteers are usually marine biologists, although even engineers and physicians have also signed up in the past. Shark Mission expects more than 50 volunteers this year.

“This initiative has been welcomed by the volunteer divers who are not always able to be continuously active in such projects. They must be certified divers. The day before we begin we will train them in recognizing certain species, and we will teach them to use our waterproof note-taking equipment.”

This selachian tagging project will take place in the pristine Cano Island Biological Reserve, which is part of the Corcovado National Park of Costa Rica. The Costa Rica Star has previously reported on Shark Mission’s efforts to train conservation officials in Guanacaste.