La Joya del Pacífico

For 20 days, a team of expeditioners set out to tag sharks along the Cocos-Galápagos Swimway, all in the effort of protecting marine species from human pressures. For one grant-winning participant, it was a novel experience and a renewal of hope.

In the heart of the Eastern Tropical Pacific Seascape, between Costa Rica’s Cocos Island and Ecuador’s Galápagos Islands, there is a swimway. An abundance of marine species, some critically endangered, rely on this underwater “superhighway” as a migratory corridor, but once they leave the protected waters of Cocos and the Galápagos, they become vulnerable to industrial fishing exploitation. The Sharkwater, a former fishing vessel, was one of such offenders, but has now been repurposed for conservation. This is the story of how 21 multinational researchers and crew members utilized this ship for 20 days to give, instead of take, from the Cocos-Galápagos Swimway. The science they gathered along the way might just be the tipping point to finally get this essential part of our blue planet fully protected.

As a scientist, activist, and environmental policy plaintiff, Randall Arauz has seen how doing diligent research in the field is a pathway to enacting change in the courtroom. With his attention now focused on the Eastern Tropical Pacific Seascape, he’s looking to once again use data-driven science to preserve this jeopardized ecosystem and the small-scale fishers who depend on it.