Every so often opportunities come up that you just can’t say no to. Here is one of those moments. Fins Attached has partnered with Mission Blue and the Dr. Sylvia Earle Alliance to conduct an extraordinary expedition to Cocos Island Costa Rica. However, the trip is only open to eight people, four Mission Blue donors and four Fins Attached donors. You need to contact Fins Attached as soon as possible to get your name on the list for this small and intimate group experience.

You will be a part of an expedition that is hosted by:

• Dr. Sylvia Earle
• Dr. Alex Antoniou
• Randall Arauz
• Kip Evans

Dr. Sylvia Earle

Dr. Sylvia A. Earle is Explorer in Residence at the National Geographic Society, Founder of the Sylvia Earle Alliance (S.E.A.) / Mission Blue, Founder of Deep Ocean Exploration and Research Inc. (DOER), Chair of the Advisory Council for the Harte Research Institute and former Chief Scientist of NOAA. Author of more than 200 publications and leader of more than 100 expeditions with over 7,000 hours underwater, Dr. Earle is agraduate of Florida State University with M.A. and PhD degrees from Duke University and 27 honorary doctorates. Her research concerns the ecology and conservation of marine ecosystems and development of technology for access to the deep sea. She is the subject of the Emmy®Award Winning Netflix documentary, Mission Blue, and the recipient of more than 100 national and international honors and awards including being named Time Magazine’s first Hero for the Planet, a Living Legend by the Library of Congress, 2014 UNEP Champion of the Earth, Glamour Magazine’s 2014 Woman of the Year, member of the Netherlands Order of the Golden Ark,and winner of the 2009 TED Prize, the Walter Cronkite Award, the 1996 Explorers Club Medal, the Royal Geographic Society 2011 Patron’s Medal, and the National Geographic 2013 Hubbard Medal.

Randall Arauz

Randall is the founder and president of PRETOMA, a Costa Rican non-profit NGO founded in 1997. Randall was the 2010 recipient of The Goldman Environmental Prize. PRETOMA is a marine conservation and research organization working to protect ocean resources and promote sustainable fisheries policies in Costa Rica and Central America.

Costa Rica has an image as a conservationist country. Indeed there are many positive laws and regulations on paper in Costa Rica. However, marine conservation is far behind land conservation, and furthermore, many of the positive laws and regulations that do exist go unenforced.

As a result, Randall and PRETOMA directs their efforts in the following categories:

• Direct in the field conservation projects
• Research and outreach onboard commercial fishing vessels
• Public awareness and education
• Litigation and policy advocacy

Kip Evans

For more than two decades Kip has been exploring the ocean and guiding conservation efforts through his documentary photography projects. He has participated in or led over fifty expeditions throughout the world including recent explorations in Alaska, Cuba, Costa Rica, Chagos, and Chile. Working on a number of National Geographic Society projects including the Sustainable Seas Expeditions, he served as the chief photographer for noted oceanographer and marine biologist, Dr. Sylvia Earle. In 2008, Kip joined Mission Blue as the Director of Photography and Expeditions, documenting “hope spots,” critical areas around the world’s ocean that need protection. As a diver and submersible pilot, Kip holds a number of certifications and spent 17 days living underwater at the Aquarius Habitat as part of Mission 31. Kip graduated from the University of California at Santa Barbara where he studied environmental studies marine biology.

Alex Antoniou

Dr. Alex Antoniou has been working with and studying sharks for over 20 years. In 2010 Alex founded Fins Attached: Marine Research and Conservation, a non-profit organization based in Colorado Springs.

He began his work by establishing a field station for the Shark Research Institute in the Honduran Bay Island of Utila and subsequently convinced the Honduran Government to enact protection laws for the whale shark in their territorial waters. From Honduras, Alex moved on to study sharks in Mexico and the Galapagos Islands, and Cocos Island, Costa Rica. This research is ongoing with with Randall and PRETOMA in Costa Rica.

Dr. Antoniou also works with Dr. Maurcio Hoyos in Mexico. In 2008 he helped to tag white sharks with acoustic transmitters and also helped deploy acoustic receivers for data collection. The work in Mexico also includes the tagging of sharks at the Revillagigedo Islands.

To find out more about the trip and how you can reserve a place email alex@finsattached.org.