We [heart] Mazatlán!

What began as a simple message through LinkedIn, quickly escalated into a full-scale proposal, where Flying Sharks was asked to bid on the collection of the entire list of animals to be displayed at the upcoming Mazatlán Aquarium.

This impressive new facility is currently under construction, soon to become the largest aquarium in Latin America, and a reference for conservation and education efforts, worldwide.

The goal is to minimize the monumental carbon footprint of flying in fish from all over the world and, instead, collecting them all locally. This serves a double purpose, since the Aquarium will focus on the fauna from the iconic Sea of Cortez.

While the construction is undergoing its final stages, our team took the opportunity to spend a week both in Mazatlán (Sinaloa) and La Paz (Baja California Sur), where we enjoyed tremendous hospitality, spectacularly yummy food, and some of the best dives of our lives!

After a dozen meetings with local commercial fishermen, dive operators, researchers, and tourist operators, we feel confident that we built ourselves a team with unparalleled enthusiasm and dedication to the massive job that lies ahead.

We’d like to take this time to thank our amazing hosts, Aaron Sprowl and Kat Echevarria! We can’t wait to go back and start filling your tanks with amazing specimens! And having some more tacos! 🙂