Coral Grand Divers Shout Out For Sharks
When Project AWARE called on the diving community to shout out for sharks during Big Shark Shout Out week 15 - 23 Ocbober, Coral Grand Divers in Koh Tao, Thailand responded to the call and put a 3 steps plan together to help give sharks a fighting chance.
Shouting out for sharks was as easy as 1 - 2 - 3!
1. Collect Petition Signatures
Coral Grand Divers asked all divers and students to sign the petition to ban shark finning. "The response was amazing and everyone welcomed the idea and showed real interest and concern with the issues associated with finning" reported the team.
2. Fundraise
The PADI Five Star IDC centre asked all their customers to make a small donation for Project Aware, in return for a cool souvenir: a rubber bracelet with embossed Koh Tao 2011.
3. Issue Project AWARE Cards
All instructors encouraged their students to apply for a Project AWARE card upon completion of a course to raise vital funds towards Project AWARE new shark conservation goals and the Sharks in Peril campaign.
Big Shark Shout Out 2011 is now over but the long and tough battle to give sharks a fighing chance continues. Coral Grand Divers is now busy teaching the new AWARE Shark Conservation Diver Distinctive Speciality to turn their students into informed and passionate shark defenders who take action to protect sharks.
"We are very proud of the efforts our staff put into this event and to the response our customers gave us" commented Jonas Majvig, Coral Grand Divers Manager.
All of us at Project AWARE are proud and grateful too for the work and efforts not only Coral Grand Divers but many other dive centres and shark defenders in all corners of the globe have put it to make this year's Big Shark Shout Out a great success!