A young marine biologist leaves for the Pacific today (Wednesday, April 30) to work with a shark conservation project.
Mark McMillan, 23, is exchanging his home on Berry Drive, Great Sutton for four weeks to swim with sharks in Fiji.
He has volunteered with global volunteering organisation, Projects Abroad.
“This is a big challenge for me personally”, said Mark.
“I really hope my trip is a big success.”
Peter Slowe, director of Projects Abroad, said: “We are really pleased Mark is doing this.
“Fiji destination is looking forward very much to meeting him and they definitely want him to bring some pictures of Cheshire.”
Mark graduated with a first class master’s degree in marine biology from Bangor University in summer 2012.
Since then, he has been saving up funds to enable him to travel out to Fiji and get involved in a marine conservation project.
He told the Pioneer: “The project I am involved in is a shark conservation project, the primary aim of which is to conserve and protect the various species of shark that inhabit the waters around the Fijian Islands, as well as to raise awareness of the need for shark conservation around the world.
“Sharks play a vital role in the world's oceans because, as top predators, they keep other marine life in a healthy balance by controlling and regulating populations of their prey species. This, overall, keeps the oceans healthy.
“Unfortunately, shark populations around the world are now in trouble as a result of human-caused activities such as fisheries bycatch, climate change and the shark fin trade.
“Marine conservation is a huge passion of mine and I am determined to do my bit to help save sharks and promote the need for their conservation.
“This is why I chose to go out to Fiji and get involved in this project.”
While working in Fiji, Mark’s role in the project will be to work alongside shark experts on a variety of research projects, including shark identification and surveying, tagging juvenile sharks to track their movements, setting up underwater cameras and retrieving data on shark behaviour, mangrove forest restoration work and educating local people about sharks and why they are so important to have in the earth’s oceans.
He became involved in the research project through Projects Abroad and will be working with other volunteers from around the world.
Mark has worked as a presenter at the Blue Planet Aquarium at Cheshire Oaks, giving educational talks and presentations to the public.
But the company is not supporting his trip and he has decided to sacrifice his job there and head to Fiji.
Andy Hygate, park director and general manager at Blue Planet, said: “In order to deliver a great visitor experience, unfortunately we are not in a position to honour extended periods of leave to customer focused team members. We do however wish Mark all the best for the future.”
