Research Interests
David is a marine ecologist who has worked with many species of marine megafauna, particularly whale sharks, leopard (zebra) sharks, and sea turtles. David founded the Sharkwatch Arabia initiative, Cape Byron Leopard Shark Project, and is a founding member of the original Qatar Whale Shark Research Project. For twelve years David helped to run the Dubai Turtle Rehabilitation Project based out of the Burj Al Arab Aquarium in Dubai. David has focused a lot of his past research on ecology and satellite telemetry of whale sharks and sea turtles in the Arabian Gulf region. Now based in Byron Bay in Australia, as one of the owners of Sundive Byron Bay, David has started the Sundive Research initiative which is currently focused on the local ecology of leopard sharks, wobbegong sharks, and sea turtles.
With MMF, David leads the Qatar Whale Shark Project and the Australia Leopard Shark Project, which had identified 489 leopard sharks off Byron Bay by January 2025, and is part of the Oman Whale Shark Project team. His recent papers include a 2025 acoustic-telemetry study of whale shark residency in Qatar, which tracked tagged sharks through an array of underwater receivers and recorded individuals remaining within the array for up to 77 consecutive days. He also co-authored a 2026 global synthesis of methods and best practices for tagging whale sharks, with a focus on clamp attachments.
Education
2016 Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh, UK
The ecology of whale sharks in the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman
2004 Master of Science with Merit
The University of Leeds, UK
Biodiversity & Conservation
Thesis title: Factors affecting Emergence Success Rates of Leatherback Turtles at Estacion Las Tortugas, Costa Rica.
1999 Bachelor of Science with Honours
The University of Liverpool Liverpool, UK
Marine Biology
Thesis title: Relative Growth, Handedness and Conflicts in Fiddler Crabs.
Biography
David is a founding member of the original Qatar Whale Shark Research Project that began in 2011. David completed his PhD studying the ecology of whale sharks in the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman in 2016, focusing on whale sharks encountered in Al Shaheen, Qatar. David has a long history working in Qatar and has significant experience collaborating with the Qatar Ministry of Environment and multiple private stakeholders from industry and academia based in Qatar to produce successful and relevant research.
In addition to the Qatar Whale Shark Project, David is also the founder of his own educational and citizen science initiatives ‘Sharkwatch Arabia’ and the ‘Cape Byron Leopard Shark Project’. The community and educational aspects of the projects engaged citizens of the region and helped them understand sharks and shark ecology. David’s research and work have been covered in media, such as National Geographic, New Scientist, CNN, Sky News, and the BBC, including a feature piece on the BBC’s Wild Arabia series.
Between 2006 and 2018, David worked as the Assistant Curator for the Burj Al Arab aquarium. Part of his role was to help run the Dubai Turtle Rehabilitation Project (DTRP). David has participated in public speaking at various international shark conferences and workshops worldwide and was involved in an IUCN Red List assessment for the whale shark. David was a member of the Scientific Committee for the Fourth International Whale Shark Conference held in Doha in 2016. David moved to New South Wales, Australia, in 2018 and is co-owner of Sundive Byron Bay and has recently started the ‘Sundive Research’ initiative to help collect data on local marine ecology in Byron Bay.
Current research
Leads
- Australia Leopard Shark ProjectProject leader
- Qatar Whale Shark ProjectProject leader
Team member
Past research
Leads
- UAE Sea Turtle Rescue and RecoveryProject leader
Media
Virgin Birth | New Scientist
“Virgin Birth” Record Broken by Hotel Shark | National Geographic
The Seas of Arabia | National Geographic
Sea turtles are surviving–despite us | National Geographic
Whale shark satellite tagged off Qatar coast | Gulf News
Global Whale Shark Program
News featuring David
Recent research
- 2026Methods for tagging whale sharks: insights into performance and best practices with a focus on clamp attachments
- Only one percent of important shark and ray areas in the Western Indian Ocean are fully protected from fishing pressure
- 2025Vulnerability of marine megafauna to global at-sea anthropogenic threats
- Whale shark residency and small-scale movements around oil and gas platforms in Qatar
- Global tracking of marine megafauna space use reveals how to achieve conservation targets
- 2024Effects of climate warming on energetics and habitat of the world's largest marine ectotherm
- Climate-driven global redistribution of an ocean giant predicts increased threat from shipping
- Identifying priority sites for whale shark ship collision management globally
- 2023Annual recurrence of the critically endangered bowmouth guitarfish (Rhina ancylostomus) in Djibouti waters
- 2022Improving sightings-derived residency estimation for whale shark aggregations: A novel metric applied to a global data set