Second ‘Project Shark’ for the Maldives

The popular ecological ‘Project Shark’ itinerary is to be offered by blue o two’s Maldives liveaboard from January 2013.

MV Carpe Diem is the luxury boat of choice to host guests on the week-long shark trip.

The company’s resident marine biologist Nikki Weeden is to oversee the tours. Nikki, who joined the BO2 team in 2011, studied marine biology at Plymouth University and wrote her undergraduate thesis on shark populations in the Bahamas.

contribute to existing Maldivian trust research projects

Her work contributed to papers studying the validated the use of baited remote underwater video surveys for assessing the diversity, distribution and abundance of sharks in the Bahamas.

Nikki will now be able to go back to roots by hosting the ‘Project Shark’ itinerary of the Red Sea in the new location of the Maldives onboard the luxurious vessel.

The current ‘Project Shark’ itineraries offered onboard blue o two’s luxury liveaboard fleet in the Red Sea were established in 2007 when Dr. Elke Bojanowski, founder of the Red Sea Sharks trust, joined the blue o two team.

Elke began her Longimanus Project in October 2004, and has since been actively collecting underwater photographs and video-clips of Red Sea sharks for cataloguing, review and analysis.

The Doctor was able to continue her research by offering divers the opportunity to learn about sharks in the Red Sea, collect and analyse data, and learn about globally endangered marine species.

Nikki’s new research under the extension of ‘Project Shark’ to the Maldives early next year will contribute to existing Maldivian trust research projects.

For divers, it should be educational and a lot of fun, too.

You can find and book onto the new Project Shark: Maldives itinerary via the blue o two website Maldives itinerary page.