Our Beneath the Waves blog will be run by this summer’s interns, with weekly posts sharing updates on our recent activities, research, and findings from our work at Thayer Academy in Braintree, MA, and in the field in New England. We are highly dedicated to the Beneath the Waves values of promoting ocean health and ocean policy, focusing on threatened species conservation, marine protected areas, and a deep affinity for sharks. Our research aims to provide the conservation evidence that is necessary to inform broad-scale and region-specific ocean policies while also creating solutions to new and emerging conservation issues. We will be working with local fishers in Massachusetts and New England to find a balance between conservation and the economic needs of those in the fishing industry.

Image by Josh Liberman for Beneath the Waves.

Additionally, we will be using a variety of social media platforms to inform and educate newer generations on the importance of ocean conservation and the maintenance of marine biodiversity. Catch us on Beneath the Waves’ Instagram throughout the summer, on Twitter, LinkedIn, and even TikTok as the field weeks continue!

We will also be teaming up with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to work on BTW’s Blue Carbon initiative. Our Blue Carbon Project works to reduce the effects of climate change through the rehabilitation of coastal and marine ecosystems. Blue Carbon ecosystems like mangroves, seagrass meadows, and marshes are the primary focus areas as they sequester large amounts of carbon and act as carbon sinks.

Similar to our partnership with Blue Carbon, our team will be going out into the field to conduct deep-sea camera footage. The team will also collect biological samples from seagrass ecosystems as well as shark tissue and blood samples. Stay tuned every week for highlights from our first field days!