Dan Castellanos was born in the small coastal fishing village of Monkey River and learned to fish as a child to support his family. His love and understanding of the sea and his perpetual curiosity led him to partner with a whale shark and fish spawning project in 1999 that catapulted him into marine research, underwater filming and Belize’s tourism industry. A former shark fisher turned shark steward and published community-based scientist, Dan has become a respected and vocal supporter of marine wildlife and healthy seas in Belize. He has also become one of Belize’s best flyfishing guides while continuing to advise MarAlliance’s monitoring and community-based research.