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Day 1:
Arrive in Key West, meet late afternoon to board the
exploration support vessel Tiburon and find your
cabin. Join the crew for orientation and dinner onboard.
Choose to spend the evening onboard or in town. All aboard by
12 midnight for an early morning departure.
Day 2:
Awaken at sea off the beautiful Tortugas Islands. A brief
orientation in the galley set’s the stage for the next few
day’s events.
We will use Tiburon’s tender to support
snorkel dives to patch reefs and other areas where we are
likely to see small nurse sharks. You can help spot the sharks
and assist as Wes Pratt catches them in his shark net. All of
the sharks caught will be examined and sampled for study. All
sharks will be tagged and released alive. In the evening we
will anchor next to Fort Jefferson and after dinner,
enjoy an interactive presentation on sharks and coral reef
ecology.
Day 3:
Awake for an early breakfast and go ashore on Garden Key in
the Dry Tortugas to explore the historic Civil War era Fort
Jefferson. The afternoon will be spent either kayaking near
the Bird Key tern rookery and Long Key frigate bird colony or
swimming, snorkeling and relaxing on the beach at Garden Key.
A team led by Wes will search for and recover four out of the
sixteen shark monitors that have been placed strategically to
intercept shark signals. Each monitor will be cleaned,
debriefed and equipped with a new battery, as Wes illustrates
the details of the research.
Day 4:
Spend the morning snorkeling the Dutch shipwreck
"Killian" sunk in 1907 and now resting in 1 to 18 feet of
water. Home to several nurse sharks, Goliath Grouper and an
amazing formation of coral gardens. The afternoon will be
spent searching the shallows around Loggerhead Key and
cast-netting for juvenile nurse sharks. An evening moat walk
filled with dazzling fish, coral gardens and fascinating
marine invertebrates, will follow dinner
Day 5:
After breakfast we embark on the days shark hunt to explore
the Dry Tortugas more remote reefs and coral formations.
Lobsters are protected in the Tortugas National Park and grow
to a giant size. Large grouper and colorful reef fish are
common around every reef and coral head. Any juvenile sharks
caught will be tagged, sampled and released. In the afternoon,
a team will replace the shark monitors to continue their sonic
vigil. The Tiburon will then depart
for the Marquesas Islands and anchor there. Dolphins, turtles
and sea birds are a commonly sighted on the way. An evening
lecture on Natural History will follow dinner.
Day 6:
Awaken at sea off the beautiful Marquesas Islands. Spend
the morning exploring the natural beauty of these remote
islands. After our final day exploring we return to our docks in Key West and enjoy a farewell
dinner aboard.
Day 7:
Depart Key West
About the R/V
Tiburon
The R/V Tiburon is a 63-foot United States Coast Guard
certified passenger vessel designed for research and
exploration. She is equipped with state of the art safety gear
and electronic equipment and state of the art air and nitrox
compressors. Her homeport is Key West, located within the
Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Designed to sleep 14
guest and 4 crew in air-conditioned comfort, each intimate
cabin is equipped with TV and vanity, 300 thread count sheets
and tempur-pedic mattress pads. Two bathroom/showers are
shared along with the common areas that include salon,
entertainment center, galley and outside deck areas. She
carries with her a small fleet of kayaks, expedition tender,
snorkel gear and dive tanks and weights.
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