First, I love sharks. With my wife and I becoming certified scuba divers, we have found ourselves on adventures in Canada and abroad. Last year our dive club started planning a trip to dive and do citizen research with biologists. That trip took us to Cocos Island, which is 300+ Nautical Miles off the coast of Costa Rica.
As I prepared for the trip, I increasingly wanted to learn more about what Fins Attached was doing. After looking at their website, related media, and having watched Rob Stewart’s Sharkwater, and Sharkwater Extinction I found that my love of sharks caused me to want to become more involved. I’m not a biologist, I am just a “computer guy”. So after looking at what we had done in the past for other community based organizations in Newmarket, ON and the surrounding area, we made a shareholders decision to support FinsAttached.org.
As you may have noticed, our NearZero Discovery logo uses a shark as the primary theme or centerpiece. This logo was designed in the fall of 2017 and fully launched at the beginning of 2018.
Our logo can be interpreted in a number of ways, both good and bad depending on how you see the term “shark”. We have chosen to take a positive approach and to focus on the qualities and attributes of sharks that inspire us with awe. Further, our name “NearZero Discovery” was selected to primarily highlight that it does not need to cost a fortune to do eDiscovery. We use the same tools, have the same or similar qualifications and experiences and have the same quality in processing and export of productions as other vendors, but all at a lower price!
On our trip I had the honour of meeting Alex Antoniou, Founder and CEO of Fins Attached. I could see from the moment that I met him that he had a passion and love for sharks. His message:
Save Sharks + Save Oceans = Save Humanity
The recent acquisition of the “M/Y Sharkwater” ship has enabled the Fins Attached team to become more involved and active in their research efforts. The ship was originally named the “Senshu Maru”, a Japanese whaling ship, which has been redeemed from its former life.
Named in honor of the late Rob Stewart, the M/Y Sharkwater is now on the high seas, in defense and research of sharks and other pelagic species.
“Conservation is the preservation of human life on earth and that above all else is worth fighting for” ~Rob Stewart.
I also met and worked with Randall Arauz, International Policy and Development Specialist for Fins Attached, and one of three biologists. Randall oversaw the research that was going on during our trip. We replaced acoustic receivers at the “cleaning stations”, and worked to tag sharks and turtles. Overall 4 hammerhead sharks were tagged, and 1 Hawksbill turtle – now named “Snowflake”. Each evening Randall presented the various aspects of his research and how he has been actively involved in Costa Rica and globally with turtle and shark preservation.
The pairing of Alex and Randall together make Fins Attached an organization that is at the forefront of the efforts for shark and turtle preservation. And they are ahead of their time, putting together the science, the human aspects, the political perspectives, to establish and work together to look at the ecosystems as a whole vs. individual species by species initiatives to conserve and preserve us all!
For more information on Fins Attached, check out their website at: https://finsattached.org/
