Last Saturday, nine swimmers enjoyed sunny weather to join forces against shark finning. In total, over 10 kilometers was covered to raise funds to help Project AWARE:

• Fight to stop shark finning
• Insist on full protections for critically endangered sharks
• Negotiate stronger policies to ensure a brighter future for all sharks

“Finning kills thousands of sharks every day. This cruel and wasteful practice involves slicing off the sharks’ fins and throwing the body overboard. Unable to swim, the shark bleeds to death or drowns. Shark fishing is largely unregulated in most of the world’s oceans,” said Alex Earl, Executive Director Project AWARE Foundation. 

Together divers have a powerful, collective voice to secure protection for endangered shark species worldwide. So if you’re FINatical about sharks you can join the race to protect them. With the clock ticking for vanishing shark species the time to act is now.

A special award went to Steve Sponagle for the fastest swim and Nazem Youssef for raising the most money ($365).

Congratulations to all swimmers and a huge thanks to the volunteers and all the donors who contributed towards the $1705 raised to help stop shark finning!

Thank you PADI & Project AWARE staff that volunteered, donated and or raised funds:

Megan Denny
Sharon Dill
Steve Clifford
Alex Earl
Michael Janssen
James Kull
Tiffany Leite
Todd Menzel
Jay Munsun
Drew Richardson
Penny Saddington
Linda Silver
Steve Sponagle
Chris Taglieri
Fabio Taglieri
Leslie Vaughn
Lauren Wiskerson
Nazem Youssef