Volunteer to research whale sharks, manta rays and turtles in the Philippines.
Donsol Whale Shark Project
Who: The Large Marine Vertebrates Research Institute Philippines (LAMAVE)
Where: Donsol Bay, Sorsogon Province, Philippines
Focus: Data collection of whale sharks, manta rays and turtles. LAMAVE runs 6 projects across the Philippines:
- Donsol whale shark project
- Southern Leyte whale shark project
- Cebu whale shark project
- Manta bowl project
- Palawan whale shark project
- Panglao sea turtle project
When: Varies depending on project.
Duration: Min. 3 month stay
Suitability: Over 18s. Volunteers should be confident swimmers and able to freedive to 7 metres. Scholarships available for Filipino nationals.
Cost: Available here.
As a volunteer, you will:
- Support whale shark research and help increase knowledge of their activity around Donsol Bay to support long-term scientific goals and policy making.
- Learn about whale shark biology, ecology and research techniques.
- Join tourist boats to search for and photograph whale sharks.
- Deploy GPS trackers on all the tourist vessels to see where the encounters are occurring across the season.
- Use photographic identification techniques to identify individuals in the population.
- Enter collected data into the database.
- Help to gain understanding of whale shark movement patterns in the Philippines and beyond.
The Base
Accommodation: Live in a shared home in a remote setting with extremely basic amenities.
Food: Three meals a day.
Working week: 1 day off a week.
The next step
Visit LAMAVE for more information and to book. Please say that you heard about this project from Sea Fans.
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