Discover, Plan & Go!

Ningaloo Reef is Australia's longest fringing reef, stretching over nearly 300 kilometers and providing habitat for abundant sea life, including whale sharks. You will spend half of your days here accompanying commercial whale shark-watching charters, and distributing surveys to passengers. When you find whale sharks, you will jump in the water to snorkel near them, take identifying photographs of their spot patterns, measure them, and record their behavior relative to other divers. You will also record the type and number of fish and other organisms in association with each shark. On alternate days you'll work in the lab, processing photographic data, collating tourist survey data, and analyzing plankton samples. Volunteers must be able swimmers, comfortable with surface-diving to five meters.

In the coastal resort town of Exmouth, 30 kilometers from the research site, you will stay in modern accommodations with swimming pool, restaurant, and bar close by. Rooms are "family style," so they can accommodate four or five team members, with modern bathrooms and hot showers. You'll rotate with your teammates to prepare hearty communal meals in a fully equipped kitchen, using ingredients available at local markets. Possibilities include locally available seafood, pasta, salads, and barbecues. There are also excellent restaurants nearby.

As an Eons member, you'll get a free, 1 year membership to Earthwatch — a $35 value — when you sign up on any expedition. And members pay $100 less on their expedition contribution — so you save $135! Just put code EONS2007 in the comment field on the signup form, or, if you call, tell the Expedition Coordinator that you found us on Eons.

Earthwatch expedition-related costs may be tax-deductible in the US as volunteer expenses. Please check with your tax adviser.