Our passion for the sea and marine species unites us in this great project
Misael Morales Vargas
Director / Marine Biologist / Captain
His interest is focused on biology, ecology and animal behavior, and especially cetaceans. It focuses on understanding the aspects related to social learning and the transmission of knowledge between individuals within the same group. Misael has acquired important international experience in marine biology and field work, which has led him to develop as a Marine Biologist, Diving Instructor and Boat Captain in the Caribbean Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean. He completed his postgraduate thesis at the Institut Universitaire Europeen De La Mer at the ‘Université de Bretagne Occidentale’, Brest, France, where he worked analyzing data from the French and Spanish tuna fishing fleet operating in the Indian Ocean. He has been coordinator of several research projects and director of his own Ecotourism company in the Los Roques archipelago, Venezuela. During this time, he worked in parallel for 5 years at the Center for Shark Research (CIT), the volunteer program for the marking and recapture project of the Lemon Shark of Los Roques. He has good knowledge of the fauna of the Canary archipelago and especially of cetaceans, experience that he has acquired working for more than two years as a biologist and guide in whale watching boats in southern Tenerife. Entrepreneur by nature, he decides to direct this project that represents the continuation of his career and a lifetime of passion, curiosity and contact with the ocean.
María Alejandra Esteves Ponte
Marine Biologist / Associate Researcher
Marine Biologist, with more than 20 years in the formation, knowledge and research of cetaceans, with extensive experience in: management of stranding live or dead cetaceans, knowledge in performing cetacean necropsies, sampling and analysis of laboratory samples, laboratory instruments management, training in craniological study of cetaceans, design, coordination, execution of scientific projects with related to whale watching for studies of habitat use, distribution patterns, taxonomic determination of species and populations through analysis with Linear and geometric morphometry in skulls of odontocete cetaceans. Founder and Researcher for more than 10 years of the Cetacean Research Center of the Nueva Esparta State, Venezuela. Founder and director of the Civil Association Delphinus Project based in Margarita Island, Nueva Esparta State, Venezuela, where numerous projects have been developed, for dissemination and publication. He is currently pursuing his Doctorate in Marine Sciences, at the Interdisciplinary Center for Marine Sciences (CICIMAR) in La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico, with the proposal called:“ Determination of the archaeofauna de o dontocets and Inferences in its use in Ensenada de Muertos, Gulf of California, Mexico ” . Its most important goal is to continue generating scientific information by expanding the study areas of the main cetacean populations, which have a decisive ecological role for the waters of Tenerife.
Harry Marshall
Ecologist / Associate Researcher
Evolutionary and behavioral ecologist, professor of zoology at the Center for Research in Ecology, Evolution and Behavior ( Center for Research in Ecology, Evolution and Behavior ) of the University of Roehampton in London, United Kingdom. In general, his interest is focused on animal social behavior and how the cost-benefit of social interactions affects members of a group. He is particularly interested in understanding how individual social behavior is influenced by environmental changes, affecting group and population patterns, and how such information can serve to propose management and conservation measures for social species. He addresses these questions by collecting data from wild population systems including Chacma Baboons, Ringed Mongooses and now Short Finned Pilot Whales. He has recently focused on understanding how social life drives differences in individual niche feeding and how living conditions at an early age influence individual behavior, survival, and later reproduction. Through the Biosean Project, Harry plans to continue answering these questions with Short Finned Pilot Whales from Tenerife, exploring their social and demographic behavior, and obtaining information on their evolution in order to propose effective conservation and management strategies.
Emma Chereskin
Biologist / Associate Researcher
She is interested in cetacean behaviour and communication and is passionate about raising awareness for the conservation of marine life and the ocean. Emma began working with whales and dolphins during her undergraduate coursework at the University of Vermont, where she studied humpback whale breeding songs in Panama with the NGO Panacetacea. She was able to publish her thesis and present part of her work at the World Marine Mammal Conference in 2019. Since graduating in 2018, Emma has worked as a research assistant for the Anderson Cabot Center at the New England Aquarium on their marine mammal aerial survey team. After this experience she came to Tenerife to work with BIOSEAN and study the pilot whales and bottlenose dolphins we commonly find here. At BIOSEAN, Emma focuses on photo ID and acoustic analysis for our resident species. Emma is getting her Master’s degree with the University of Bristol and the Shark Bay Dolphin Project, focusing on keystone individuals’ roles in information distribution in male bottlenose dolphin alliances.
Our cooperations
University of Roehampton
We have signed agreement with the ‘Center for Research in Ecology, Evolution and Behavior‘ of the ‘University of Roehampton’, for student exchanges and studies on the Short Finned Pilot Whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus)
PROMAR Network of the Canary Islands Government
This is a citizen science project whose objective is to know the long-term changes that occur in resident and migratory species. Through the mobile app, we register in situ observations, photos and coordinates (GPS or UTM) of our sightings
Tonina Association
We sample dorsal fins of the species we see. These photographs, among other things, serve to enrich the association’s photo identification catalog
Internship Program
If you are passionate about nature, marine biology, and conservation, this is your space. Our doors are always open to having interns who wish to develop their research projects, gain professional experience or simply learn. Contact us
Rumbo Ziday and ECAN
Are non-governmental organizations dedicated to environmental protection, dissemination and education. We participate together every year in the chick recovery campaign of the Cory’s Shearwater (Calonectris borealis)
Research projects in progress
Habitat use with implications on the behavior of resident species in southern Tenerife, Spain
Distribution and diversity of migratory species in southern Tenerife, Spain
Short-term effect of tourism on the behavior of Short Finned Pilot Whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus) and Bottlenose Dolphins (Turciops truncatus) of the southwest of Tenerife, Spain
Cartography of the presence and seasonal distribution of cetaceans and sea turtles in the southwest of Tenerife, Spain
