We were lucky to catch up with Maria Harvey recently and have shared our conversation below.

Maria, appreciate you joining us today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

Whale shark research has been done globally, however, none had ever been studied in the state of Hawai’i. Working on the water for many years, I knew that understanding where whale sharks in Hawaii fit into the global population could aid in conservation efforts. Unlike many other places in the world, whale sharks don’t aggregate In Hawai’i creating a perplexing research issue. How do I go about this? How do I find them? How I conduct research on an elusive species? It was with these questions that I realized it would have to be a mainly citizen science effort taking advantage of opportunistic sightings. First, I had to create and formalize as a non-profit before anything else. After tackling that hurdle, I had to create a website and way for community members to submit sightings. While the basics were now in place, the struggle was to spread the word and have people be interested in the same thing we were. After launching, I would actively scour the internet for sightings, request submissions, or track ocean-goers down in town when I had heard they saw a whale shark. It was really a form of “hitting the pavement” and spreading the word. Eventually enough community engagement had occurred and word of our efforts had spread around the state. Submissions were flooding in and then the research could begin.

Maria, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

From a child, I knew I wanted to follow the marine biology path as a career. While that path has taken many twists and turns throughout, it never strayed from the ocean. After attending university in Hawaii, I traveled the world working as a Captain, naturalist, expedition guide, assistant researcher, and currently a Level-4 marine animal disentanglement specialist. My work and studies have encompassed a variety of species, including spinner dolphins, humpback whales, right whales, leatherback turtles, and whale sharks. It was not until recent years (2017) that I formed Hawai‛i Uncharted Research Collective, a research non-profit, that provides an avenue to couple my research and education background with my love for the Hawaiian Islands, ocean conservation, and the charismatic whale sharks that inhabit the deep blue waters of the Pacific.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

My colleagues and I run a mostly volunteer research organization that requires utmost dedication to continue. The three main cofounders of HURC have full-time jobs in the marine biology field and do most of our whale shark processing late into the night after we’re pau (off) work. There is a resilience in doing this for many years and continuing to do so shows that we’re passionate about the research and conservation of an endangered species.

How’d you meet your business partner?

My cofounders were previous coworkers and friends that had exceptional educational backgrounds in the marine research field and I knew would be passionate about the work.

Contact Info:

• Website: hawaiiuncharted.org
• Instagram: hawaiiuncharted
• Facebook: hawaiiuncharted

Image Credits
The photo of the whale shark with the tag is credit of Deron Verbeck.