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The Sand Fly, West Papua's fastest little boat.
 The Scripps Institution Of Oceanography has started a multi-year collaboration with the University of Papua (UNIPA), called SURGA (Scripps-UNIPA Regional Geographic Alliance). The Sand Fly, contributed by Casa Tortuga through the Boats for Biologists program, is the main working tool for the sea turtle research and conservation activities of SURGA on the Bird's Head Peninsula.
 A main partner in the turtle project is UNIPA's Ricardo Tapilatu, who leads the Bird's Head Leatherback program. The Sand Fly enables the UNIPA turtle biologists to carry out patrols on beaches which are otherwise inaccessible to local Papuan boats. Research conducted within SURGA includes tracking at sea of leatherback hatchlings, sea surface currents studies and sea-bottom mapping. The Sand Fly is the perfect vessel for these undertakings.
 Furthermore, SURGA researchers Elizabeth Johnstone and Geoffrey Gearheart have founded a non-profit corporation, Ocean Positive (oceanpositive.org), aimed at helping local communities of the Bird's Head improve their lives, through a better education and the creation of alternative livelihoods. The Sand Fly will again be of great help by enabling Ocean Positive's staff reach remote villages along the coast.
Follow the Ocean Positive blog at: www.oceanpositiveblog.org.
Make a donation to help SURGA through Casa Tortuga's Boats for Biologists Project!
images copyright © Scripps Institution Of Oceanography
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