Sonoman wins spot on ocean expedition

Local resident Greg Holzer has won a spot on a scientific expedition to study hammerhead sharks and endangered sea turtles in Cocos Island National Park, located in the Eastern Pacific Ocean half way between Costa Rica and the Galapagos Island, Ecuador. Cocos Island is famous for its large population and diversity of sharks, such as hammerheads, white tips, tigers, Galapagos sharks, and whale sharks, for other marine wildlife including eagle rays, marbled rays and manta rays, and sea turtles. 
 
“Truly, this is an opportunity of a lifetime,” said Holzer, who works as a mechanical engineer in San Francisco with Keithly Barber Associates, a consulting firm specializing in building commissioning.  “I know Cocos Island by its reputation as one of most incredible underwater places on the planet. To be able to assist in this important research, while also diving at one of Jacque Cousteau’s favorite dive sites, is an honor and a privilege.”
 
Holzer will join scientists and 12 other volunteer research assistants on a 10-day expedition March 13 to 23. The group will tag hammerhead sharks with acoustic tags and place satellite transmitters on endangered green turtles. The research is sponsored by Turtle Island Restoration Network, seaturtles.org, based in the west Marin town of Olema and its sister organization PRETOMA, pretoma.org, in Costa Rica. Holzer will also count the numbers of sharks and rays, and download tracking information from permanent receivers placed around the waters of Cocos Island.
 
The goals of the research are to understand the relationships between shark and turtle migrations between Cocos, Galapagos and Colombia’s Mapelo Island in order to better protect these species through the creation of marine protected areas, as well as study the importance of Cocos Island as feeding and nursery grounds for these species
 
Research assistants, who normally pay their own way, support a large part of the costs of the expedition, but this year Turtle Island raffled off two spaces and Holzer was the lucky winner.  The value of the prize was over $13,000, which included $2,000 cash for travel expenses to and from Costa Rica.   There are a few spots left for this trip for volunteers who can pay their own way. It should be noted that expenses are tax-deductible as participants are assisting a non-profit organization.
 
For more information, contact Todd Steiner 415.663.8590 ext. 103.