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Super Hero Greg Barron (also known as IA's Director of West Coast
Shark Operations) has assembled an incredible group of professionals
eager to share their knowledge and love of white sharks with the
world. Greg and his shark team have been at the forefront of white
shark outreach and have contributed significantly to the development
of Marine Life Protection Act and National Marine Sanctuary legislation
aimed at protecting California's white sharks.
Expect to see a lot of IA crew shirts on your great white shark
expedition. We aim to staff our shark boats with at least one
crew member for every three or four cage divers. It's important
to us that there's always someone nearby to take your picture,
help you into your wetsuit or hand you a cup of hot coffee when
you step out of the water.
Each Incredible Adventures white shark expedition is staffed
with one or more naturalists trained and certified by the Gulf
of the Farallones Sanctuary, a certified dive instructor and several
all-around crew and customer service "fanatics" dedicated to making
your white shark expedition the trip of a lifetime.
After a fun day or two at sea, Greg and the IA shark team will
send you home with memories of an incredible place and a newfound
appreciation for great white sharks and their habitat.
Greg Barron - Director of West Coast Shark
Ops
 We
haven't quite figured out what to call Greg Barron. This week,
we're leaning toward "Director of West Coast Shark Ops". A San
Francisco Bay Area native and entrepreneur, Greg has spent his
entire life living and diving along the North Coast of California
as well as spending time working research vessels and dive operations
all over the Caribbean and in the Atlantic as well. He has worked
three National Geographic Flag Expeditions, done shark wrangling
and helped recover sunken Spanish artifacts off Cuba. He has been
involved in our San Francisco shark adventure from the very beginning.
Greg helped the people at DOER
Marine design and build our massive shark cage and he helped
transform our boats into some of the best shark boats on the planet.
He then assembled the perfect mix of people to make sure every
aspect of your adventure is as perfect as it can be.
In his other life, when he isn't working to show you the fantastic
Farallon Islands and their most famous residents, Greg operates
two of his own companies. Barron Properties and Rideable
Bicycle Replicas, Inc. Barron Properties is a real estate
development and management company based in Alameda and Oakland,
California. Rideable Bicycle Replicas, Inc. of Alameda, CA. is
a small manufacturing company specializing in making antique and
specialty style cycles mostly from the end of the 19th century.
If you've been to Burning Man, you've probably seen Greg with
one of his "High Wheel" bicycles or other vehicle creations. His
company has been supplying cycles and custom vehicles for folks,
film, theater and museums for 37 years so if you see a high wheel
bike in a movie or play, chances are Greg made it. Some of the
recent shows featuring Greg's stuff include Deadwood, Jack Ass
2, Lonesome Dove, Haunted Mansion and the stage show Wicked.
Did we mention that Greg can fix just about anything...almost
before you know it's broken? He's Greg "MacGyver" Barron.
Julia Bissinger
- Lead Shark Dive Instructor
 Our
team of great dive instructors is lead by the wonderful Julia
Bissinger. As a child growing up in Pennsylvania, Julia dreamed
of one day diving with sharks. (We think she loves her job so
much that she'd probably do it for free...but we pay her anyway.)
Customers rave at how good she is at making them feel comfortable
in the cage. When she's not out at the Farallons, she keeps busy
working full time at a biotech company, going to college and leading
dives to Carmel and Monterey. She's also an avid road biker.
Francesca Koe - Dive Instructor & Naturalist
 Francesca
Koe holds advanced teaching qualifications from both PADI and
DAN and is a freediver and co-founder of the tsunami relief project,
Paavima.org.
She is also a member of Tim Taylor’s Blue Matters project, a team
advancing the scientific use of rebreathers for deep ocean exploration.
When not in the water, Francesca chairs programming for San Francisco
Museum of Modern Art’s Contemporary Extension and directs strategy
at Underground Ads, a mission-based creative firm dedicated to
making our world a better place. She also manages editorial content
as the scuba editor for Deeperblue.net
and writes articles on dive safety, travel and the environment.
In 2007, she was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the Farallones
Marine Sanctuary Association.
Next - Farallons Photo
Gallery
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