COMMUNITIES are invited to help better understand rare shark species.

Project SIARC, launched on 23 February by the Zoological Society London (ZSL) and Natural Resources Wales (NRW), is enlisting the help of fishers, schoolchildren, researchers, and citizen scientists from across Wales, with the hope of better understanding some of the more unusual coastal species - such as the Critically Endangered angelshark and Vulnerable common stingray.

Although community engagement and research will be focused at two Special Areas of Conservation (SAC), ‘Pen Llŷn a’r Sarnau’ and ‘Carmarthen Bay and Estuaries’, Project SIARC offers a wide range of free in-person and online opportunities, from learning how to identify elasmobranch eggcases, to helping detect sharks in underwater video footage.

Joanna Barker, Project SIARC senior project manager, said: “Currently, few people in Wales can witness these amazing species first-hand, but we hope that the Project SIARC citizen science opportunities, school engagement programme and outreach will bring the underwater world to your doorstep and enable a wider range of people to be involved in marine conservation.”

Anyone currently living or residing in Wales can get involved with Project SIARC by visiting www.projectsiarc.com or following the work on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.