Shelly Beach Finathon, Swimming to End Finning Manly Australia

Scuba divers have clocked up a jawesome 700km swimming to end finning as part of Project AWARE’s global Finathon.  This weekend PADI Asia Pacific is supporting the Manly Finathon to boost the global fundraising total over $60,000 for shark protection.  

PADI Vice President Jeremy Coleman will join 12 swimmers at Shelly Beach, Manly for a 1km ocean swim. Swimmers include the Project AWARE team Hannah, Debbie and Joanna. Tom, Alison and Clare will represent PADI braving 17 degrees ocean temperature to swim for sharks.  Prizes generously donated by Scubapro and Deck Bar, Dee Why for swimmers who raise the most.

"Over the last 3 months we've watched 154 Finathon Champions, 40 teams and 50 children under the age of 10 swimming to end finning and we're looking forward to finally jumping in the water to swim," said Joanna McNamara, Project AWARE.

The Shelly Beach event starts at 11am and includes a sausage sizzle fundraiser. Thirty people are expected to attend including PADI Regional Managers from Asia Pacific in Sydney for a conference. The challenge is on for the PADI Regional Managers typically used to warmer water to brave the cold Sydney surf and swim on the day!

PADI Instructor Examiner George Wegmann and his son Walther enjoyed a dive at Shelly Beach just last week. “Cabbage Tree Bay Marine Reserve off Shelly Beach is simply amazing. There aren’t many capital cities in the world where you can see Port Jackson sharks, wobbegongs, blue gropers, trevallies, giant catfish and squid just off the beach,” said George.

Finathon champs swimming with masks and snorkels this weekend may be lucky enough to spot a shark themselves.  Good Luck to the Project AWARE team, PADI staff and family and friends swimming this Sunday and thank to all the PADI staff who have generously donated. You can choose a swimmer to sponsor here: http://www.finathon.org/team/manly 

Thanks to Finathon swimmers around the world, all donations help:

• Fight to stop finning
• Insist on full protections for Critically Endangered sharks
• Negotiate strong policies to ensure a brighter future for all sharks

Photo Credit George Wegmann: Port Jackson Shark Resident at Shelly Beach!