Shark Stewards

Journey to the Devil's Teeth with marine biologist David McGuire — venturing 28 miles offshore into the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary each "Sharktober" for an up-close surface encounter with great white sharks, humpback whales, and seabirds on a conservation expedition unlike any other.

Operating out of San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf, Shark Stewards leads seasonal "Sharktober" wildlife expeditions aboard the 50-foot US Coast Guard–certified vessel Amigo into the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary. Led by marine biologist David McGuire, these day-long expeditions run September through November, targeting the weeks when great white sharks return from their 4,000-mile annual migration to prey on elephant seals at the Devil's Teeth archipelago — just 28 miles off the city's shoreline. The organization operates under a permit from NOAA's National Marine Sanctuary White Shark Stewardship Program and deploys hydrophones and a small ROV for underwater recording. The Amigo departs at 8:00 AM and returns around 4:00–4:30 PM, traveling along the Marin shoreline and out across the Gulf of the Farallones. While white sharks are the headline draw, these trips are full natural history expeditions: passengers routinely encounter humpback, blue, fin, and gray whales; five species of pinnipeds; and over twelve species of nesting seabirds. The organization explicitly emphasizes ecosystem conservation and education rather than shark baiting or cage diving, and passengers are invited to contribute sightings to citizen science databases. Beyond the Farallon expeditions, Shark Stewards partners with SORCE to organize marine conservation dive trips at the Gita Nada Marine Protected Area in Sekotong Bay, Lombok, Indonesia, where participants conduct Reef Check fish surveys and observe sea turtles, hammerhead sharks, and manta rays in the Coral Triangle. Locally, the organization also facilitates sevengill shark observation dives for certified divers.

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