As part of our broader mission to establish a new biosphere reserve protecting endangered scalloped hammerheads, we maintain a vital acoustic monitoring network stretching from Loreto to Cabo Pulmo. In close collaboration with the nonprofit Pelagios Kakunja and dedicated local fishermen, this extensive array of VEMCO VR2W receivers acts as an underwater listening grid. Whenever a tagged hammerhead swims within range, these stations log their presence, providing us with the critical data needed to map their habitat use, regional connectivity, and complex ontogenetic life history patterns.

Recently, we teamed up with local fisherman Julio Leon of Agua Verde to service the receivers across several offshore seamounts and coastal shark nursery areas. Alongside our standard equipment maintenance, we installed SeaBird 39 thermistors to help us better understand the precise environmental drivers that influence hammerhead movement and habitat selection. This latest expedition culminated in a truly magical moment: after years of diving and working tirelessly in the Gulf to protect this species, we were finally visited underwater by a school of juvenile scalloped hammerheads themselves—a profound and beautiful reminder of exactly what we are working to sustain.