Excited to introduce our latest interview from Dublin based marine scientist Jenny Bortoluzzi, otherwise known as @drsharkyjenny. Jenny studies the movements and feeding behaviors of marine migrators (sharks and whales) and is a science communicator volunteer with Sharks4Kids helping to inspire the next generation of shark and ocean advocates!
My love for the oceans started with a love for nature in general. I grew up in Brittany, France, a 45 minute drive from the coast. Brittany’s coastline is one of my favourite places on Earth!
My parents often took us camping or for days at the beach and, while my brothers spent much of their time digging holes and making sand forts, I would disappear to explore every rockpool and its inhabitants. I’ve always found that there was something calming and wholesome about the sea, I could spend hours looking out over the water, lost in thought.
Q:) Did you always want to be a marine biologist or did you change your mind along the way? What makes a successful shark scientist/marine biologist?
From my youngest memory, I can remember always wanting to work with animals. I remember telling people I wanted to work with Nature. Through the years, it manifested itself in different ways from wanting to be a vet to working in a Zoo, to working on natural reserves.
When I was in my teens, it became all about the ocean and sharks. I haven’t let go of that since. In my opinion, it’s really important to understand how our oceans function in order to become a good shark/marine biologist. When using a microscope, you can’t go straight to the smallest lens, you have to take it down in steps, focusing at every level before getting to the final one. To understand how sharks or any other species function, you have to know about ocean currents; temperatures; nutrients; ecosystems etc..
You have to know how they can live where they do; know about their prey and their predators. A successful shark scientist and marine biologist is one that doesn’t limit his knowledge or curiosity to one species, or one system.
Q:) If you woke up as a shark tomorrow, which species would you be and why?
A deep sea shark! The pocket shark maybe. As a shark, you are never safe from human threats but the safest possible place is probably the furthest away from humans. Plus, I would LOVE to see the world down there, what it looks like and what amazing things we haven’t discovered yet exist in the depths of the ocean.
Q:) Do you have a shark hero, or someone you'd want to work with in the future?
My love for sharks started with Rob Stewart and Sharkwater, he will always be one of my heroes because I wouldn’t be where I am without him. He is sorely missed.
Today, two of my shark heroes are Dr. Rima Jabado and Dr. Rachel Graham. Both do such amazing work on studying and understanding shark fisheries. They work in close collaboration with the communities in the regions they work with, taking into consideration the humans behind the fisheries and the socio-economic aspects of the trade. Understanding why people are fishing sharks is essential to finding solutions, and Dr. Jabado and Dr. Graham do exactly this. They look at the big picture and influence conservation and management measures while not forgetting about the lives impacted by these decisions. In my opinion, they embody what conservation and science should be about.
At age 13, my class watched the movie Sharkwater by Rob Stewart. It was probably the most influential moment in my life as I came out of the viewing both in adoration of sharks and outraged by our treatment of them. At age 13, I made it my mission in life to save them!
Collaboration has to be my most valued principle, so I have worked and will hopefully work with many groups and individuals to achieve our common goals. Recently, I started working with the Irish Basking Shark Group (@BaskingIrish) on their communication team. They do amazing work studying the Irish population of basking sharks, a species that was almost exterminated in the 1800s and 1900s and is still endangered and declining today. The other organisation that I work closely with, as an ambassador, is Sharks4Kids. They may not do research but their work is incredibly important. By teaching kids all around the world about sharks, they are not only creating a generation of shark advocates.
Kids are a force to be reckoned with, they learn something and go home to tell their parents, their grand- parents, their siblings etc… before you know it, each kid has spread their love of sharks to a dozen or more people. That young fascination for the natural world is so crucial to our survival.
Q:) How did you get into diving? What lessons has that skill taught you - anything you'd still like to master or try?
I started diving at the age of 17. Back when I started, France didn’t allow children to scuba dive and I had to wait until that age to give it a go. Being fascinated with the sea, I was itching to get below the surface. I spent a week in an archipelago off the coast of South Brittany and was not disappointed. From rocky reefs to wrecks, there was so much to see and an amazing community to be a part of. One of the lessons scuba diving teaches you, that many people don’t think of, is trust. It’s a team sport! In recent years, I’ve fallen in love with freediving, the freedom of movement it provides, the quietness and the challenge are incredible feelings. I really would like to develop that skill, but Dublin doesn’t have any clubs so I’m not able to do it as much as I wish I could.
Q:) Do you have a very favorite diving memory or reason you keep going back into the water?
It’s hard to pick one! I would say that one of my favourite dive will always be Malapascua Island in the Philippines. It is one of the rare places on Earth where you have a good chance to see Thresher Sharks in shallow waters (25m) and it did not disappoint. Threshers are one of my favourite species, they have evolved one of the most unique hunting methods in the shark world, whipping their tail to knock out their prey. Being in the water, sitting on the bottom watching them circle above while being cleaned by cleaner fish was a moment that will be etched in my mind forever! They are stunningly beautiful and inspiring. I can’t wait to see what future dives hold for me, the amazing thing about diving is that no two dives are the same, you could dive the same site every day and see something different every time, the marine world likes to keep you guessing!
Q:) What advice do you have for someone wanting to study sharks or want to take part in conservation activities?
This is a question I, and my colleagues, get very often. I have a few tips. The first is expand your horizon: your ultimate goal may be to study sharks but what specifically do you want to study in sharks? Is it their movements? Then you can get experience that will get you there by working with researchers studying the movements of badgers because the methods they use are the same. If you are an undergraduate student, look at labs at your own university and ask them if they need any help over summer break, it doesn’t matter if it’s not the species or topic you ultimately want to study. You might end up discovering new methods you didn’t know existed; you’ll become a more rounded scientist and gain experience that many of your classmates going off traveling won’t have. Plus, you’ll likely be saving money because you will be working where you normally live!
Be prepared for rejection, you’ll likely hear back from less than 10% of the places you contact, and 9 of those 10% will be rejections. But you only need one successful application so don’t give up! I truly believe it isn’t necessary to go off volunteering in faraway places and paying lots of money to be there to gain valuable experience, in fact I believe the opposite is true. But if you do decide to volunteer for an NGO in some remote place, do your research! Find previous volunteers and ask them about their experience. Is there any evidence that the organization is doing valid research i.e. are they publishing peer-reviewed articles or credited in policy decisions for their work? Are they charging more than the cost for you to be there as a volunteer (food, accommodation etc.)?
My final tip is: No matter how old you are, never stop being curious. Ask questions, explore the natural world, talk to people, attend events, investigate the world around you. And vote! Your vote is your most powerful positive influence on policies and research.
Q:) What's an ultimate goal for you and your work? What conservation milestones are you working toward?
I am at quite an early stage in my career, so I know that those milestones will likely not happen until further down the road. But everything I do is to working towards them. Plus, I also believe that the scientific community is a team and we all share a little bit of the successes being made. I want the work I do to have a place in the bigger picture, to play a role in making the world healthier. Down the road, I really hope that my work can be collaborative, not just with other scientists but with communities, NGOs, policy makers and management bodies. The ultimate goal to work towards is for humans and sharks to be able to cohabit on a healthy planet.
Q:) How do you try to impact shark/ocean conservation in your community?
Anytime someone asks me what I do, it leads to a conversation about sharks and the public’s perception of these animals. Inevitably, it results in the other party knowing a little more about sharks and their plight. Communication is key. As a scientist, it’s my responsibility to communicate my science and knowledge to others. I do it through Sharks4Kids, social media and conversations in my everyday life.
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