MISAEL MORALES VARGAS has dedicated his career working in the field, collecting data to understand marine ecosystems in the Caribbean, Mediterranean Sea, and the Atlantic Ocean. His interest in cetaceans bioacoustics has allowed him to gather a huge database of sound files. He aims to sensibilize people to the role of humans in the marine environment by taking his work beyond the borders of the scientific community by combining his passion for the arts and sciences.
He was born in Maracaibo, Venezuela, and lives and works in Tenerife. Vargas’s interest is focused on biology, ecology, and animal behavior, 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 Européen De La Mer at the Université de Bretagne Occidentale, Brest, France, where he worked on 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 also worked at the Center for Shark Research (CIT), a 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, especially cetaceans, after working for more than two years as a biologist and guide in whale watching boats in southern Tenerife.
