Chris Fischer, the founder of the marine research organization OCEARCH, will appear at SeaWorld Orlando on Jan. 19 and 20 as part of the park’s ‘Inside Look’ series.
Fischer will speak about OCEARCH’s current research initiatives both days at 1 and 3 p.m. in the Nautilus Theatre. Following each presentation, Fischer will also hold a meet and greet with the public. Activities are included with admission ticket to the park.
SeaWorld has been a major supporter of the work done by OCEARCH, which works to provide scientific data related to tracking (telemetry) and biological studies of keystone marine species. The two formed a partnership in January of 2018 to focus on the global protection of marine animals and the world’s oceans.
“When we started focusing on reproduction and the reproductive activities of sharks—SeaWorld was one of the world leaders in artificial insemination of sharks and other related areas of marine science— they were able to come in and expand the breadth and depth of our research,” Fischer said. “That’s why they are one of our strategic partners. They have the capacity to do the science, the history of elevating that science and they are one of the world leaders in shark science. They also have tremendous outreach because of their scale and the amount of visitors they have so we can expose our work to as many people as possible.”
As part of the partnership, OCEARCH’s popular Global Shark Tracker also collects data on marine animals that have been rescued, rehabilitated and returned to the wild by SeaWorld, offering both the scientific community and the general public the ability to learn more about threatened and endangered species.
“SeaWorld is one of the world’s foremost zoological rescue organizations, and using the global satellite tracker on rehabilitated and returned animals is an exciting way for us to share the next chapter in the lives of rescued animals,” Chief Zoological Officer at SeaWorld Dr. Chris Dold said. “Working together, we hope to inspire the next generation of marine scientists and everyday advocates through our common love of the ocean.”
Fischer said sharks, especially great whites, are the ideal ambassador for marine conservation.
“We use the sharks because they are so interesting,” he said. “We talk about the sharks because we can talk about plastic and marine debris and other critical issues the ocean is facing. Much like leveraging the lion to save the Serengeti, we can leverage the white shark to create a global ocean movement.”
According to Fischer, educational outreach is a vital part of creating that movement. Part of including everyone in his organization’s work is engaging people in different venues like SeaWorld.
“We believe that it is going to take everybody if we want to be proud of the planet we leave behind for our kids,” Fischer said. “It is the reason we open source all of our data. Inclusion is one of the core values of OCEARCH. It’ll take all of us if we want to leave the planet in good shape for our kids.”
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https://www.sharkophile.com/2019/01/14/ocearch-reveals-possible-great-white-gathering-spot-in-atlantic/
You can follow the OCEARCH tagged sharks and other rescued marine animals by accessing the near-real time, free online Global Shark Tracker, or by downloading the Global Shark Tracker App available for Apple and Android platforms. You can also follow all the latest OCEARCH-related news from Sharkophile here.