Sachem student combines passion and education for unique experience
Sachem North sophomore, Jacob Karavias, was awarded the O’Seas Conservation Foundation – Greg Norman Shark Camp Scholarship.
O’Seas is Montauk-based nonprofit organization, led by world-renowned shark biologist Dr. Craig O’Connell, which integrates shark conservation efforts with youth education. Their mission is to secure the future of our marine life, and more specifically, our oceans through local shark research efforts that directly involve youth as a means to educate, inspire, and train these future leaders of marine conservation.
This year, the Greg Norman Company sponsored two 8th-12th grade students to participate in the 2019 Shark Camp. The competitive scholarship was open to students nation-wide and covers cost of the camp, plus housing and board in Montauk for one week.
Norman is a legendary Australian professional golfer who, due to his relentless and aggressive golf style, size, and the large predatory sharks that patrol his native coastline, has earned the nickname the “Great White Shark.”
Throughout the camp, Jacob will get top-notch Marine Biology training and participate in this authentic science research. He will help Dr. O’Connell and his crew deploy small-scale longlines to assess the shark species living along the New York coastline.
The majority of the sharks captured are small, however, Dr. O’Connell has captured thresher, blue, sandbar, mako, and even white sharks during his past sampling. Upon capture, sharks are immediately tagged, data recorded, de-hooked and released. In addition, O’Seas has other projects that are bound to make this a life-changing experience.
Some of these activities include live-feed baited camera trap activities, a tuna troll-cam, active shark tracking, baited remote underwater video system (BRUVS) deployment, and whale vocalization research.