Sharks. Photography. Puns.

I’m a co-founder and whale shark researcher at the Marine Megafauna Foundation, and an irredeemable wildlife geek at the new Nature Tripper Magazine (and website), which I operate with my wife Madeleine.

This site is currently acting as a basic online “CV” to share my latest research, writing, photography… and dad jokes. Thanks for stopping by!

What I’m doing now:

December 2020: Oh, how I miss warm water and sharks. I’m still *thinking* about sharks a lot though. We’re somewhere in the latter stages of writing a textbook on whale shark ecology and conservation for submission. It’s shaping up well!

Nature Tripper Magazine:

Madeleine and I have published Issue #1 of our new, free magazine. We’ve both been rapt with the positive reception it’s had so far. Grab your copy here!

You can find out more about the magazine (and subscribe, for free!) here.

Media:

One of my photos received a “Highly Commended” in the 2020 Underwater Photographer of the Year competition, so that was great.

Unfortunately, the subject matter was fairly depressing. Gannets nesting off the Norweigian coast are increasingly using fishing debris to build their nests. I’ve written an article about it here. The photo got some good media coverage, with it being used as a photo of the month in National Geographic Kids magazine, and also featured by Stuff (NZ), IFL Science, Metro (UK), and Dive Magazine. Hopefully the gannets will benefit from the interest.

New Science:

No place like home? High residency and predictable seasonal movement of whale sharks off Tanzania. Rohner CA, Cochran JEM, Cagua EF, Prebble CEM, Venables SK, Berumen ML, Kuguru BL, Rubens J, Brunnschweiler JM, Pierce SJ. Frontiers in Marine Science.

Using expert opinion to identify and determine the relative impact of threats to sea turtles in Mozambique. Williams JL, Pierce SJ, Hamann M, Fuentes MMMPB. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems.

Global spatial risk assessment of sharks under the footprint of fisheries. Queiroz N, et al. Nature.

Contrasting habitat use and population dynamics of reef manta rays within the Nusa Penida Marine Protected Area, Indonesia. Germanov ES, Bejder L, Chabanne DBH, Dharmadi, Hendrawan IG, Marshall AD, Pierce SJ, Van Keulen M, Loneragan NR. Frontiers in Marine Science.

Photographic identification of sharks. Pierce SJ, Holmberg JA, Kock AL, Marshall AD. In: Shark research: emerging technologies and applications for the field and laboratory. Carrier JC, Heithaus MR, Simpfendorfer CA (eds.). CRC Press.

My full scientific publication list is here.

Upcoming trips

Obviously international travel is all rather disrupted at the moment. At the moment, though, these are the upcoming trips that I’ll be hosting:

August / September 2021: Galapagos Islands

Hope you can join me!

Feel free to contact me / us at hello ‘at’ naturetripper.com if you’ve got any questions.

Like geeky animal facts and dad jokes?

I write a few articles just for my mailing list. They normally focus on something interesting, and possibly hilarious, that I've learnt about sharks (or other random animals) that week. There may also be groan-inducing jokes.

Real talk: there will be groan-inducing jokes.