We are in the heart of our Women in Conservation Science series and today’s conversation is as heartwarming as it is educational. In this episode, we are sitting down with Frida Lara, PhD, shark expert, tour guide, and Co-Founder of Orgcas. Frida grew up with a strong love of the sea and always knew she wanted to become a marine biologist when she grew up. During school, she studied all kinds of marine wildlife but found her true calling when she had the opportunity to perform revolutionary shark research in Baja California, Mexico. After a series of events that I’ll let her explain to you, she became an ocean tour guide leading people on underwater safaris, which eventually led to her co-founding the NGO Orgcas with 11 other amazing women, and partnering with a local community to help them develop a nature-based tourism program as an alternative livelihood to shark hunting,
Frida and I have such a delightful conversation about:
- The different types of research she performed in her early years as a marine biologist
- How she became a shark researcher
- What she discovered studying Galapagos sharks and silky sharks
- How the NGO, Orgcas, came to be and her role within the organization
- The difference between artisanal and commercial shark hunting
- The power of community-based tourism for ocean conservation
- And a truly wild encounter with a tiger shark that you won’t want to miss
Alright, everyone. Please enjoy my chat with Frida.