Back on land, our little troupe traveled all around the city meeting many different people fighting the good fight against marine exploitation. So far we have managed to look at the guys from Five Oceans (a consultancy firm, but guys with great knowledge spanning a very long history of Oman’s marine life) as well as the turtle projects to the South in Ras Al Jinz, the University of Sultan Quaboos’s fisheries department and hopefully the environmental society of Oman. These people and their projects are interesting and the work they are doing is so very important so we can’t wait to get really stuck into it.

Today we discussed the over-exploitation of sharks in Oman’s waters with some of the professors in the fisheries Department of Saultan Quaboos University, which is critical concern at the moment. The recent decline of shark species has fuel concern as to the state of the marine environment, the shark carcasses ever present in the markets and along the beach landing sites. Sharks are apex predators, their disappearance from the oceans seamless and intricate biological network will impact negatively on Oman’s precious marine resources, the problem is just how bad the impact may be. Dr. Henderson and his team from the Sultan Quaboos University are conducting valuable and vital research regarding shark populations in Oman, and hope to provide data towards an effective shark management plan in the future. Their work is inspiring and positive and highlights the commitment of individuals and institutions to tackle the problem of marine resource exploitation, so well be joining them for some sampling trips as well as heading to the fish markets to check out what kind of catches are coming in.