Paulo Gomez

I was born and raised in an organic farm by my hippie family in the tropical jungle of Comala, in the central-western Pacific region of Mexico where I had nature surrounding my home with all sorts of birds, reptiles, of spiders and insects roaming freely. My parents taught me the basis of understanding how the ecosystem works, the life cycles of different species and how each organism has its different needs to flourish. Within that dense green vegetation I cultivated my love, interest and passion for the natural world. 

I started studying environmental engineering but then decided to change to biology at the University of Guadalajara. I did a semester abroad in the Autonomous University of Barcelona, where I studied the Mediterranean coastal geography and this brought me one step closer to an event that changed my life: diving. One year before the end of my studies, I got my diving certification and devoted the rest of my studies to the ocean. Because of this, I was accepted to do my university internship in the shark research project of CICIMAR in La Paz, Baja California Sur at the beginning of 2018.

Shortly before finishing my internship I began guiding boat tours to the Espiritu Santo Island National Park, to various sea lion colonies, a giant manta ray congregation, the marvelous whale shark feeding grounds and whale nursing areas. As well, I had the opportunity to join two citizen science diving trips in the Revillagigedo Islands, considered by the IUCN as the “Mexican Galapagos” due to its pristine and abundant biodiversity.