William Winram The Watermen Project / February 18, 2015 by Felix Leander

William Winram freediving with South African Tiger Shark.  Image by: Felix Leander — William Winram freediving with South African Tiger Shark. Image by: Felix Leander

William Winram has been around for a while in the freediving world and over time (last six years) he has been reinventing himself and using his skill set to positively impact the ocean through education, setting up a foundation, speaking engagements, photography among others - oh and by the way he is still setting freediving world records.

Good for him - I met Will in South Africa in 2008 while freediving Aliwal Shoal - at the very start of his transformation. I have been following his adventures ever since - his projects have lead him from Mexico (tagging white sharks) to the Bahamas (tagging great hammerhead sharks). William is genuinely a nice guy and great to be around - his heart, mind, and soul are in the right place.

The Watermen Project is a NGO founded by William that is centered around "to be involved with any activity aiming at marine conservation. Our NPO therefore actively contributes to scientific and empiric research whereby the goal is to study the marine environment in order to protect and conserve it. More specifically, any activity aiming at protecting large marine species such as sharks, whales, etc. " - complete mission statement and goal. Most of the work at the moment seems to be centered around scientific expeditions / helping the scientific community tagging sharks.

Will is currently in Bimini tagging hammerheads, hanging out with Richard Branson, and he finally had the opportunity to meet Doc. Keep up with Will on Twitter or Instagram

William Winram  Image by: Laurent Egli — William Winram Image by: Laurent Egli

Tiger Shark Research / February 2, 2015 by Felix Leander

The RJ Dunlap Marine Conservation Program is conducting research on tiger sharks in The Bahamas (particularly Tiger Beach) to study their movement patterns and reproduction. The study is looking to answer several questions including:

Are tiger sharks using TB as a mating ground, feeding area or gestation ground? If not, where are these critical areas?
What are the overall residency patterns of sharks within TB?
Does dive tourism affect tiger shark behavior and movements at TB? If so, how?
How much movement is there in and out of TB? What are the migrations patterns of tiger sharks in the subtropical Atlantic?
How much time are tiger sharks remaining in the Bahamas Shark Sanctuary? If they move out the Sanctuary, where and when are the sharks most vulnerable to fishing exploitation?
How are shark movement patterns influenced by their body condition and health?

The research is being led by Neil Hammerschlag and his team. It will be extremely interesting what the results will yield, particularly if shark diving tourism in the area has an effect on the sharks. Many have theories - but none have been proven.

For more information visit University of Miami's website - and find out about all the other projects that the University is working on.