Alberta Underwater Council

A Canadian award winning underwater photographer, videographer and author, he is also the co-director of “GEERG” Greenland Shark and Elasmobranch Education and Research Group in Quebec . In addition to his university prep level teaching he is the author of the annual DIVING ALMANAC—Book of Records published yearly establishing all the records of interest to the world diving community.

Divecapes Presentation: Since 1998, GEERG1 shark researchers Jeffrey Gallant and Chris Harvey-Clark have pursued a mythical monster – Somniosus microcephalus – the mysterious Greenland shark. This rare and elusive deep-sea and Arctic animal is virtually unknown to science, and until recently few humans had ever seen it alive, let alone encountered it underwater. This multimedia presentation will tell the story of how two diving scientists searched for, and ultimately found a population of Greenland sharks in the cold waters of the Arctic and Northern Quebec. Perhaps even more compelling than the initial discovery has been the continuing story of how these giant predators survive in thousands of feet of water in the deserts of the deep sea, and what may be attracting them to shallow depths in the subarctic waters of  the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Using a variety of sophisticated research tools, Gallant will tell the story of a new, non-invasive approach to studying rare marine species, circumventing conventional research methods which usually result in the death of the animal. Underwater video footage which has never been shown publicly will reveal some of the mysteries of this apex predator, and the only shark known to inhabit the Arctic year-round. 1 GEERG (Greenland Shark and Elasmobranch Education and Research Group) www.geerg.

Bio: Director - Atlantic Region, MSc Candidate - Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Fields of study: Distribution of Somniosus microcephalus; Social and environmental impact of sport diving activities in the presence of sharks; Shark behaviour. Jeffrey is also Managing Director of the Shark Research Institute (SRI Canada) and Executive-at-Large of the Canadian Association for Underwater Science (CAUS).

Jeffrey started diving with the Royal Canadian Sea Cadets in 1982 at the age of 14. He has led several research and training expeditions around the world. Among other accomplishments, Gallant was trained as an aquanaut in Romania in 1995, he is the former Chief Diver of the Quebec Aquarium, and he spent a few days diving aboard Cousteau's windship Alcyone in 1999.

An award-winning underwater photographer and videographer with Aqualog Underwater Productions, Jeffrey has contributed to several dive publications, books, as well as television and film documentaries on sharks and diving, including Discovery Channel, History Channel, CBC, Radio-Canada, TV5, TVA, TQS, LCN and Télé-Québec.He is the author of the internationally-acclaimed Diving Almanac and Book of Records and he has been a columnist of Vancouver-based DIVER Magazine since 1997. He was made an Honorary Member of the Diables des mers (Sea Devils) Dive Club in 2007. Gallant lives in Drummondville, Quebec, where he teaches at the local CEGEP (university prep).