If you want to help sharks, you’re in the right place.

The Fins Attached mission is to conduct research, promote conservation, and provide education for the protection of the marine ecosystem, specifically sharks, but they have programs helping sea turtles as well. Their focus is research because data collection is what drives conservation. The science must be provided to government authorities in order to drive policies that protect sharks.

I met some volunteers from the organization Fins Attached and when they told me they were based out of Denver, Colorado, I knew I had to reconnect with them to learn more about their mission.

This is the organization’s most frequently asked question, and I love their response. “Why not? The ocean is important to everyone on the planet and its health affects every aspect of life.”

The nonprofit is run by a small, dedicated team, primarily located in Colorado, with local scientists and volunteers in Baja and Costa Rica.

Sharks are incredibly important to the ocean ecosystem as apex predators, but have suffered the consequences of fear mongering by modern media for decades. This has put many shark species in a fragile spot of teetering on the brink of extinction, so it’s up to us shark lovers to help them rebound.

EXPEDITIONS

If you’ve always wanted to participate in a community science trip, Fins Attached runs very special, small group trips to Mexico and Costa Rica. These trips are designed to show participants the research work going on in each location and, when appropriate, give hands-on experience. I am currently in talks with the team to run a Fins Attached/Azul Unlimited collaboration trip, so if you want to be the first to know about that, sign up for my Patreon community or my email list.

TURTLE RESCUE

Fins Attached and a Costa Rican nonprofit organization, Kids Saving the Rainforest are supporting a local man named Milo in Isla Damas to change the culture of turtle egg harvesting in his community. He is giving poachers the opportunity to change their ways and help collect eggs for incubating, hatching, and releasing instead of selling them as food. A donation as little as $50 saves two nests of up to 200 baby turtles!

RESEARCH

Fins Attached is using satellite and acoustic tagging to learn more about shark migratory patterns and nursery areas. Scientists will tag pregnant sharks, and when they give birth, the tags will ping satellites, giving specific information about where nursery areas are located–something we have VERY LITTLE information on at this point in time. The goal is to identify migratory patterns and provide the science to get more MPAs established in these crucial places.

This is just a basic introduction to the organization and their projects, so I highly recommend checking out their website for more information. You can even join the Fins Attached email list to learn more about upcoming research projects. Also, if you are fired up by the research projects, please donate. This type of research is very expensive and desperately underfunded, so every little bit helps.

Thank you for your support. I am very passionate about working with nonprofit organizations that are making an impact and helping our oceans. Conservation work is challenging, but splitting the effort among many passionate people makes change possible. It really does.

See what trips are coming up. I always give my community first dibs on spots, so you can sign up for Patreon (and get trip discounts) or my email list to be the first to know about new expeditions in the future.