Research Fund 24/01 :: Josephine Entsie
April 18, 2026
Congratulations Gemma Scotts, researcher and Communications Director at the Marine Research and Conservation Foundation (MARECO), who received support from our Flying Sharks Research Fund for a very cool shark conservation project around the Isle of Man!
Gemma’s work focuses on using pelagic BRUVs (Baited Remote Underwater Video Systems) to study threatened sharks, particularly the Critically Endangered tope shark (Galeorhinus galeus), in and around Marine Nature Reserves.
Now, for those who aren’t familiar with BRUVs, imagine underwater GoPros baited with delicious fish snacks, quietly sitting there filming sharks doing sharky things without bothering them. Science can be beautiful sometimes!
The project will involve building three pelagic BRUV systems and carrying out dozens of deployments with the help of local recreational anglers, who’ll become citizen scientists for the cause. That means more data, more community involvement, and more people helping protect sharks instead of fearing them. Which sounds like a pretty good deal to us.
The collected footage will help assess whether current Marine Nature Reserves are actually doing their job protecting threatened shark species, while also creating baseline data for long-term conservation management.
Needless to say we couldn’t possibly say no to a project involving sharks, conservation, underwater cameras, and people willing to spend time at sea helping science, so we were delighted to contribute 1.000 euros towards Gemma’s research efforts.
Go, Gemma, and keep on rockin’! 🦈
