Minister of Tourism, Arts & Culture, Datuk Masidi Manjun, sent a letter of support for Downbelow's Project AWARE Finathon taking place Sunday, 4 November.

“I applaud the initiative taken by Downbelow," Datuk Masidi says in his faxed letter, “to raise awareness against shark fin products and to highlight the plight of sharks in our oceans.”

Datuk Masidi and his Ministry are very vocal about the plight of sharks and are lobbying for a total ban of shark finning and fishing in Sabah's waters.

“Our ocean will be a better place and a haven for all dive lovers," he added.

The weekend’s Finathon is to perpetuate Project AWARE's plight to save our sharks and to raise funds to help them continue the onslaught at government level.

Downbelow has raised more than RM10,000 (AU$3,100) so far and hope to increase that number by Sunday.

There are nearly 30 participants expected to take part in the 1km swim, which starts from Downbelow's PADI 5 Star IDC Dive Centre on Gaya island, about 3km from Sabah's capital, Kota Kinabalu.

Downbelow is greatful for all the encouragement and support we have received from Datuk Masidi, his Ministry, plus all our suppliers, customers and, of course, the participants in the Finathon this Sunday.

Together we are making a difference.