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As we approach the end of 2017, it’s a special time for many people across the globe to celebrate. And Project AWARE are celebrating YOU! We’ve pulled together your top 12 ocean stories of the year! Take a look back at how together with our global community we’re connecting our passion for ocean adventure with the purpose of marine protection to achieve local and global impact.

When the going gets tough….. the ocean crazy among us go Tough Mudder! We chat with Project AWARE’s very own fundraising team, Lauren Wiskerson and Orsi Fulop, who both endured one of the toughest events on the planet. And, all in the name of conservation.

Fishing nations gathered for the annual meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) have failed to adopt recommended limits to protect shortfin mako sharks from overfishing or strengthen the regional ban on shark finning. The only new shark agreement resulting from the eight day meeting takes a phased in approach to narrow the conditions under which shortfin makos can be landed, but includes numerous exceptions and applies only to the North Atlantic.

"Just as we’d like to keep our homes clean, we feel the need to keep our ocean clean and unpolluted as well," says Rob Partridge, PADI Master Instructor at Temple Adventures in India. Rob shares how his team is tackling marine debris, trawling and ghost nets fins on and one dive at a time.

The results are in! Scuba divers remove 115 kgs of marine litter after #OurOcean Conference ends in Malta with commitments to tackle the global marine pollution crisis.

Project AWARE applauds the listing of all shark and ray species up for consideration at the 12th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention of the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS CoP12) in Manila, but we also join NGO partners in expressing concerns about the lack of concrete action taken to date for listed species such as the mako sharks listed in 2018. We underscored that the success of CMS listings for heavily fished shark species depends primarily on follow-up fisheries management actions.

In September 2017, Hurricane Irma bore down on Florida and parts of the Caribbean, leaving behind disruption and devastation. Millions evacuated in advance of the storm. Key Largo resident Jack Fishman was one of those evacuees. Like many others, he used the forced time away to connect with friends and dive buddies about gathering needed supplies for those in need and to lay out plans for organizing ocean and land debris cleanups. This is the kind of work the dedicated team at Rainbow Reef Dive Center cares deeply about.