Team

Jordi Riera Renter

Jordi Riera is a diving instructor and an instructor trainer (SSI Instructor Trainer). He is also a professional diver, with a career dedicated entirely to working at sea.

He co-owns the family business DIVECREUS S.L., founded in 1996, where he serves as Technical Director. This company operates the Sotamar Diving Center in Cadaqués and Sotamar Underwater Works.

An underwater photographer and videographer passionate, he has taken numerous diving trips around the world (Egypt, Maldives, Oman, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Fiji, South Africa, Madagascar, Zanzibar, Cape Verde, Mexico, Madeira, Canary Islands, etc.).

However, his true passion is SHARKS, for which he feels genuine LOVE, ADMIRATION, and COMPASSION.

In 2017, he founded Sotamar Shark Tour to better educate both the diving community and the public about sharks with a focus on INTERACTION, EDUCATION, and CONSERVATION.

In 2019, he began searching for sharks in the Mediterranean, specifically in the waters off his native Cap de Creus, with the help of family, friends, and enthusiastic collaborators who joined him on this adventurous journey.

After three years of effort and sacrifice, searching the open sea and learning attraction techniques, he has become a pioneer of blue shark diving in the Mediterranean.

His goal is not only to be an ecotourism operator offering shark encounters (Cap de Creus Experience program) but, in 2022, he also created the Sotamar Shark Research Association to form a multidisciplinary team of shark research and conservation professionals, including divers, marine biologists, veterinarians, underwater photographers, and naturalists.

This team, Sotamar Shark Research Team, is currently conducting a Blue Shark Monitoring Study in Cap de Creus, working in collaboration with the government and several research centers.

Jordi is the author/co-author of several scientific articles (and others in progress) based on the results of the Blue Shark Monitoring Study in Cap de Creus.

Mireia Riera Giró

Mireia Riera is a diving instructor (SSI Advanced Instructor). She is also a Technician in Childhood Education and is currently studying Social Work at the University of Girona.

She balances her university studies with her work in the family business, DIVECREUS S.L., where she works as a diving instructor and holds management responsibilities at Sotamar Diving Center. She also serves as the Community Manager for Sotamar Diving Center and Sotamar Shark Tour.

She has realized several diving trips to Egypt (four trips), the Maldives (two trips), Mexico, Zanzibar, and the Canary Islands.

She has joined her father, Jordi Riera, on numerous occasions in search for blue sharks in the waters of Cap de Creus.

Mireia manages reservations for the CAP DE CREUS EXPERIENCE program, which involves encounters with Mediterranean pelagic fauna and the search for blue sharks.

Carla Valdés Galiana

Carla Valdés holds a bachelor’s degree in veterinary medicine from the Autonomous University of Barcelona.

She is also an SSI Diving Instructor, freediver, and underwater photographer.

Carla has dived in various countries around the world, including Colombia, Costa Rica, Honduras, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Croatia, and Spain.

With a focus on marine biology, conservation, and citizen science, she is passionate about cetaceans and sharks.

Carla is the author/co-author of several scientific articles (and others in progress) based on the results of the Blue Shark Monitoring Study in Cap de Creus.