Please help support greenland shark urgent votes needed for project funding

[jroy017]

LAST CHANCE - With just over 12 hours to go, we are in 12th place and trailing #10 by more than 200 votes. Unless more people vote now and tomorrow morning, we won't make it to the final. Help us protect the Greenland shark in Baie-Comeau. Thanks!

Please vote at this site !
Baie-Comeau Shark Conservation / Protection des requins | Aviva Community Fund





Protecting Sharks in Baie-Comeau / Protection des requins à Baie-Comeau


In order to better understand and protect the sharks of the St. Lawrence, the Greenland Shark and Elasmobranch Education and Research Group needs funding to set-up the world's first visual shark monitoring system near Baie-Comeau, Quebec. This webcam system would allow us to visually study individual sharks at the only known location in the world where the Greenland shark can be observed at shallow depths. The underwater webcams would also allow us to study the shark's habitat and how it interacts with other species in the area. The online images would be accessible at all times to the general public, schools and other institutions in Baie-Comeau and all over the world in order to promote environmental awareness, shark conservation, and to showcase Canada's little-known underwater heritage.

Financial and physical constraints prevent us from spending much time in the water. Diving operations are expensive and require much preparation so we are limited to no more than three hours underwater per day. Disturbances caused by divers have an effect on the shark's activities and thus prevent us from observing its natural behaviour. The webcams would allow us to monitor the shark and its environment 24 hours a day for most of the year. Anyone with a computer could also log on and help.

Millions of sharks are killed for their fins every year. Because many other shark species have already been decimated, the Greenland shark has recently been targeted as a new source of fins. And yet so little is known about this species, including its population, range and biology. Our webcam system would allow us to learn much about this shark, and the new knowledge would be shared with other scientists, regulatory agencies and the fishing community in order to protect this key northern species and its environment.

All GEERG scientists and divers are volunteers so every penny of the funding would go to the project.

We were the first to conduct pelagic shark dives on the East Coast and we were the first ever to film the Greenland shark under natural conditions anywhere in the world. Our work has been documented in scientific publications, documentaries, articles and news stories. We have also been active in schools to educate youth on the need to better understand and appreciate sharks in Canada.

GEERG is a not-for-profit registered charity that requires financial assistance to conduct field operations. Donations are tax deductible in Canada (Canada Revenue: 834462913RR0001) and also in the U.S. through the Shark Research Institute, a non-profit 501(c)(3) research organization. GEERG is also a member of the Canadian Association for Underwater Science.

All of our research is non-lethal. We do not kill sharks to study them.

The results of our work, as well as educational materials and our website (http://www.geerg.ca), are available in English and in French.

Several corporations, institutions and universities have become GEERG affiliates. Their support has enabled us to conduct ground-breaking research on the Greenland shark. However, our project in Baie-Comeau requires the acquisition of more expensive equipment and services, and we need your help.

Please vote for our project and help us study and protect the elusive Greenland shark in Baie-Comeau.

[Doug Charney]

Voted!

Thank you for voting for Baie-Comeau Shark Conservation / Protection des requins.

Good Luck!

[jroy017]

Thanks to all who voted we made it to the final round. More voting starting dec 5th.

[jroy017]

So we made it to the finals and voting starts today till december 16th please vote as much as you can

[Safety Stop]

Important Update – Day 5 and we are still in 14th place. Voting has stabilized and we are only 400 votes from the top 10. We therefore need 500 new voters to make it into the lead group. We are so close to winning $100,000, yet not close enough. Urgent action required! We will certainly win if you recruit one new voter per day till December 16, but we have to start right now. That you very much for your support!

VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! it`s free

Baie-Comeau Shark Conservation / Protection des requins | Aviva Community Fund