A love of eating pies and protecting sharks has inspired one scuba diver to make a pledge he may regret! If his fundraising target is met he’ll swim 1,500 metres. But for every $10 over the target PADI Master Instructor, Andrew Barrett will swim an extra 100 metres.  This puts Andrew’s Finathon™ challenge firmly in the hands of his friends. The more dollars people donate the more he’ll have to swim so please give generously to protect sharks.

Andrew brings a sense of humour to his fundraising appeal: “Luckily there are no shark fins or shark products in mince pies!  I'm an enormous fan of both sharks and mince pies. Unfortunately the mince pies have expanded my waistline and the Finathon™ is a great way for me to hopefully burn off some of the excess calories and save sharks at the same time. The competition with in Calypso Diving is strong and within my competitive nature there can only be two winners- the SHARKS and ME!”

‘’The major problem with protecting any marine life is people are less aware of it as they do not see it from day to day. So awareness and promotion through amazing schemes such as the Finathon™ is great in bringing attention to the aquatic problems and the decline of the sharks,’’ adds Andrew.

Calypso Diving will host the first Finathon™ in the Philippines this May. They’re planning the event within four weeks to make sure they get swimming to end finning before the monsoon season.  With 13 fundraisers already signed up it promises to be a FINtastic event.  The team occasionally see white-tip and grey reef sharks on the deeper dives but sharks are no longer as common as they once were. Sharks, along with other apex predators, are at the top of the food chain therefore their survival is crucial for the health and wellbeing of the ocean.

The Berting, PADI Divemaster will swim 400 meters to fundraise $100, the cost of a bowl of shark fin soup. Divemaster Gery Buob adds "I've been in the water with sharks since I was a child and I love swimming with them, they're awesome animals and deserve our respect and protection. I can't tell you how many of our divers ask me "Where can I find sharks?" Everyone wants to see them, everybody loves them. But sadly my list of answer for the divers grows shorter as time goes by. Sharks are being fished and finned and they need our help. "

Good Luck to all the Calypso swimmers on 29 May 2013. Support sharks and donate to the Calypso team or join the Finathon™ and get swimming to end finning.