Micronesian Shark Foundation

The Micronesian Shark Foundation Shark Education Program is conducted in Palau jointly with the Palau Conservation Society's “Ridge to Reef” school program.

Cooperation has been attempted with schools in Guam, Yap, Chuuk and Pohnpei. The Ridge to Reef program and it’s equivalents throughout Micronesia is open to all 5th graders.

At the end of each program, a team of two from the Foundation talk with the students about the importance of sharks to our ecosystem. Tim, the Shark Ranger, conducts the presentation while Finny the funny shark, attired with a shark costume dances, hugs and shakes hands with the students. Most importantly, Finny brings huge smiles to the children's faces and a recognition that sharks are an important and vital part of the ecosystem and reefs.

Our Micronesian Shark Foundation Team Finny the funny Shark and Tim the Shark Ranger have been to several schools throughout Micronesia and children have been very impressed by their performance and message. Micronesian Shark Foundation has organized painting competitions in visited schools and awarded winners with prizes. To leave a deeper mark in the kid's minds Finny the funny shark and Tim the Micronesian Shark Foundation Ranger had to appear on more frequent bases, at least 2 times a year.

While Finny & Tim the foundations shark ranger are volunteers, books and prizes for children are expensive and we need funding for these programs - if you wish to fund one of our activities please click here.

Presentations of our finding are important to showcase our work for Palau's shark conservation and environment protection.

Our founding member Tova Harel Bornovsky is appearing on a regular basis at local and International events. She has made presentations to

local Government officials, the President of Palau, Traditional Leaders, Tourism Boards all throughout Micronesia, scientific groups and numerous International events such as dive shows in USA, Germany and Singapore.

Every year the Micronesian Shark Foundation is organizing Shark Week Palau, an event realized in cooperation with Fish'n Fins, Palau's most prestigious dive operator.

During shark week Tova Harel Bornovski , along with international shark experts, whom we regularly invite for these events, give presentations and talks.

As part of our scientific research program the Micronesian Shark Foundation is collecting shark count data. This data is collected by dive operators in Palau and the program is now extending to other islands in Micronesia.

The data we collect at "special sites" includes information on the numbers of sharks sighted and their behavior patterns, broken down by species, gender and size. It also identifies other factors such as water temperature, visibility and number of divers underwater.

The information provided allows our scientific researchers an insight to specific shark behavior, for example the migratory patterns of Grey Reef Sharks in Palau and the best months to tag sharks. It also allows to identify irregularities in numbers and behavior related to weather and other natural phenomena.

As example, we observed that Grey Reef Sharks in Palau were changing their mating behavior, as we believe, based on water temperature and eventually seismic activities. While Grey Reef Sharks are normally mating during February and March. In 2012 we observed female grey reef sharks with fresh mating scars in August, showing that the sharks were mating in the month of August, changing their mating pattern, an unusual find. When we analyzed our data, we noticed that the water temperatures during February-April were below the normal. Also quite a few underwater seismic activities were occurring in our region during this time.

While the link between these factors and the shark mating season is not yet clear, it is through such data collection and analysis that we hope to come to a better understanding of these beautiful creatures. Our goal is to have as much data collected all over Micronesia to assist with our scientific research.

The Micronesian Shark Foundation is cooperating with dive shops all over Palau to collect shark data through it's shark count form, designed by Micronesian Shark Foundation founder Tova Harel Bornovsky, containing information on dive site, water conditions, kind of shark, site population pattern, gender and seasonality. Data sheets are compiled and processed by Dr. Mark Meekan.