Where: Orpheus Island Research Station

When: Friday October 6th (Afternoon) to Sunday October 8th (Morning)

• *Timing of travel is based on the tides for that weekend.

Cost: $300 AUD, this includes everything for the weekend (transport, accommodation and food), and the fee must be paid upfront before the trip. *Final cost is expected to be slightly less, so you will be reimbursed if that is the case.

Information: 

• Leave JCU on the afternoon of Oct 6 and carpool to Lucinda to arrive around 2 pm. We will arrive at OIRS around 4 pm. Nico will give a lecture presentation on marine megafauna ecology, what questions we can answer from any tagged species, the history of tagging megafauna and the methods behind his research.This will be followed by dinner.

• Saturday Oct 7th, breakfast on Orpheus, then we will spend the morning and afternoon observing Nico and his team catch, tag and release sharks. Lunch will be provided on the boats and dinner will be back at OIRS at the end of the day. This will be followed by another lecture presentation from Nico to go over the samples that were collected that day and what we can answer from them. He will also host an R coding workshop where we will investigate an actual data set of shark detections, followed by a question and discussion period.

• Sunday Oct 8th head back to Lucinda for 7:30 am and carpool back to JCU.

Important:

• Must have paid membership fees ($15).

• Applicants must fill out an application by August 31st. 

• Application will be a brief statement answering the following questions in about 200 words: Why do you think it would be beneficial for you to attend? What are you hoping to learn?

• Applications will be reviewed and participants for the field trip will be chosen via a lottery system at the beginning of September.

• *Members of The FINstitute will be only observing the tagging of sharks and not be doing any tagging themselves. *

**Disclaimer: Shark Tagging and Boat Safety**

• It is important to recognize that working with sharks in their natural environment poses potential dangers to both individuals and the marine creatures involved. Therefore, it is essential to exercise caution and adhere to proper safety measures at all times.

• **Boat Safety:** Being aboard a vessel in open water comes with a set of risks and responsibilities. Participants should be well aware of boating safety practices, emergency procedures and members will need to sign a waiver indicating their informed consent to participate.

• **No Guarantees of Success:** It is crucial to understand that tagging sharks does not guarantee successful interactions or captures. Sharks are highly mobile and may not always be present in the vicinity. Even with the best preparation and equipment, there is no certainty that any sharks will be caught or tagged during our trip and by accepting your spot on this trip, you agree to paying the full trip fee regardless of the success rate.