captain manuel yepez pulls a small shark out of the water with his bare hands.miÑo wants to know which sharks or rays bear their young here. to find out, she takes a sample. once they've figured out which sharks deliver their pups and where they then move on to, conservation areas can be established. >> i love being able to research these wonderful creatures. what i like best is that we are able to collect important information. that way, we can make specific, constructive recommendations to the authorities. scientists still have a lot to learn about marine creatures. but diana pazmiÑo's first priority is species protection. too many sea creatures collide with boats and get injured. the marine biologist spots a hammerhead shark. it is like all sharks often hunted for its fins or ends up as by-catch. that's why they''re slowly dying out. >> shags 220 reach maturity, and what they do, they hold -- sharks take a long time to reach maturity, and once they do, they have few pups. it is extremely important to protect them in their first years of life until they can re