The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Shark Specialist Group Independent Review Panel designated the Southern Gulf of Gonave, inner southern peninsula of Haiti, as an Important Shark and Ray Area (ISRA). This is based on nearly a decade of scientific research and local community involvement by Haiti Ocean Project with support from international renowned shark scientists. The main qualifying species is the critically endangered oceanic whitetip shark, as this area designed includes the first confirmed nursery globally and a potential pupping ground.

Haiti Ocean Project joins the Wider Caribbean Manatee Alliance (WCMA), established to unite researchers, conservationists, governments, and communities across the region in a common mission: to protect and recover the Greater Caribbean manatee and its coastal habitats.

The IUCN Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force Independent Review Panel designated the Gulf of Gonave, Haiti as an Area of Interest (AoI): stating the potential this area may have towards enhancing the local conservation status of marine mammals in the region. This designation stemmed from Haiti Ocean Project’s marine mammal work since 2007.

The Haiti Ocean Project team placed a satellite tag on a rescued adult female nesting hawksbill sea turtle. This was the first satellite tag placed on a sea turtle in Haiti history.

Haiti Ocean Project president/founder Jamie Aquino was nominated and accepted as a member of the North Atlantic and Wider Caribbean Region IUCN-SSC Marine Turtle Specialist Group (MTSG), focused on advancing sea turtle knowledge and conservation.

Haiti Ocean Project made a deal to purchase nearly 10 acres of coastal land in Petite Riviere de Nippes. This land will be used to build Haiti’s first marine conservation center, which will include marine research, rehabilitation of injured marine megafauna and educational programs. This marine conservation center will create opportunities for the local community to participate in and be proud of, while also saving marine megafauna.

Richard Boyer, Haiti Ocean Project’s logistics coordinator and a local fisher was named the 2023 Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute (GCFI) Gladding Memorial Award Winner. This annual award is presented to exceptional fishers who demonstrate significant commitment to the sustainable use and long-term conservation of marine resources in the Gulf and Caribbean region. Richard is the first French-speaking and Haitian winner of this award.

Haiti Ocean Project was selected as the Haiti implementing partner for The Coral Carib Project, dedicated to conserving and restoring coral reefs in four Caribbean countries: Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Haiti Ocean Project’s role is coral restoration and implementation, outreach and awareness. Coral Carib is a new strategic approach for conserving and restoring Caribbean coral reef ecosystems that targets Climate Resilient Refuges.

Haiti Ocean Project local coordinators Francklin Barbier and Charlens Calixte become American Academy of Underwater Sciences (AAUS) scientific divers, which involved taking a specific course in the Dominican Republic from certified organizational AAUS trainers and a required 100 hours of theoretical and practical training. They are the only AAUS scientific divers currently residing in Haiti.

Haiti Ocean Project president/founder Jamie Aquino co-authors her first published paper: First record of a gillnet entanglement of a common minke whale calf in Haiti.

Haiti Ocean Project sea turtle/seabird coordinator Francklin Barbier was named a fellow of the New England Aquarium’s Marine Conservation Action Fund. He is the first Haitian to receive this prestigious achievement.

Haiti Ocean Project becomes a co-manager with the Haitian government for the Baraderes-Cayemites Marine Protected Area (MPA). A formal management agreement was signed with ANAP ( L’Agence Nationale des Aires Protégées) under the Haiti ministry of the environment.

The southern Haiti Nippes Region, specifically off the coast of Petite Riviere de Nippes and Anse a Veau is designated as a critical nursery for juvenile oceanic whitetip sharks, based on historical information and documentation collected from Haiti Ocean Project with the assistance of local artisanal fishers, data acquired from satellite tags placed on these young oceanics and research obtained from scientists aboard the OceanX trip of 2019.

Haiti Ocean Project shark coordinator Claude Pressoir traveled to Eleuthera, Bahamas to begin a prestigious 3-month internship with the Cape Eleuthera Institute, to learn how to apply satellite tags to shark, to learn more about shark behavior and to become scuba certified. This is the first time a Haiti Ocean Project coordinator travels outside of Haiti for an opportunity involving marine research/conservation work.

Haiti Ocean Project president/founder Jamie Aquino joined internationally renowned shark researchers aboard the M/V Alucia ocean research vessel, as part of a major scientific expedition, sponsored by OceanX, Moore Charitable Foundation and Bloomberg Vibrant Oceans Initiative. The purpose of this trip was traveling to Haiti, to place satellite tags on juvenile oceanic whitetip sharks, to track their patterns and behaviors, as it is highly likely the young oceanics in the Nippes Region are possibly the offspring of adult female oceanics that were tagged by shark scientists over a decade ago in the Bahamas. On this trip, the scientists successfully tagged the first shark ever in Haiti history and the first juvenile oceanic whitetip shark globally.

Jamie Aquino was named a Haiti co-country coordinator for WIDECAST (Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Conservation Network). WIDECAST is committed to facilitating a regional capacity to ensure the recovery and sustainable management of depleted sea turtle populations.

Jamie Aquino was named a Go Blue Award Finalist in a category which exemplifies significant contributions in marine conservation through work-related activities. The annual Go Blue Awards are sponsored by the Loggerhead Marine Life Center.

Haiti Ocean Project was featured on a BBC series titled “Caribbean” which aired in February 2015. Jamie Aquino, along with youth Charlens Calixte and Kenneth Lamartiniere were included in this segment. The host of the travelogue documentary series is Simon Reeve (New York Times best-selling author and presenter of BBC series Australia, Indian Ocean, Tropic of Cancer and Equator), who undertook an epic journey through the countries around the Caribbean Sea. The popular series airs internationally to over 40 countries.

Mendy Calixte, a youth involved with Haiti Ocean Project, is one of 25 youth around the world who win a coveted Adobe Foundation college scholarship ($20,000 a year for 4 years). He received this scholarship, as Haiti Ocean Project was a partner of Adobe Youth Voices and for his marine conservation efforts with Haiti Ocean Project. Mendy decided to attend the University of Tennessee, at Chattanooga, where he received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 2019.

Haiti Ocean Project’s former student website was named one of the top two winners in a prestigious international youth website competition Doors to Diplomacy, co-sponsored by the U.S. State Department.

Haiti Ocean Project research document is accepted and published at the 19^th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals in Tampa, Florida by the Society for Marine Mammalogy. The title is: Haiti Ocean Project: Development of a multidimensional research and education project in Haiti.

Haiti Ocean Project partners with Adobe Youth Voices, which provides the digital tools to create media with a personally meaningful purpose. Jamie Aquino receives certification as an Adobe Educator.

Jamie Aquino’s students at Leesburg High School (Florida), who were involved with Haiti Ocean Project, produced a music video speaking out against marine mammals in captivity. The video, Free Dem Whalez, was selected as an honorable mention in the category of student films by the prestigious BLUE Ocean Film Festival, a global film and conservation event.

Jamie Aquino is awarded a Certificate of Honorable Mention, National KIND Teacher Award by the Humane Society of the United States, for her marine conservation efforts with Haiti Ocean Project, which she founded in 2007.

Haiti Ocean Project youth were awarded official Dolphin Diplomas from Whale and Dolphin Conservation Inc. (WDC) for their commitment toward marine mammals.