Making a Splash for Sharks: Mermaids Get Swimming to End Shark Finning
Ever since Hans Christian Andersen put pen to paper, it has been every little girl's dream to become a mermaid! With a little help from Kat Felton, professional mermaid, underwater model and PADI scuba instructor, this year’s Miss Scuba UK finalists are in for a treat!
On Thursday 1st May, the beauty queens joined by Jaime-Lee Faulkner, crowned Miss Scuba International in 2013, will show their support for marine conservation by turning into mermaids just for one day to take part in a unique mermaid themed Finathon™ challenge.
"So far Finathon™ fundraisers have demonstrated their support for sharks by taking on some of the most innovative, inspiring and fun challenges" says Orsi Fulop, Project AWARE Development and Outreach coordinator. "From shaving hair to cycling across Europe, swimming long distances from one island to another or playing golf, we thought we had seen it all but mermaids swimming to end shark finning is definitely a first! We're all really excited to kick off Finathon 2014 with such an amazing event!" she added.
Turning her mermaid dream into a career has enabled Kat Felton to swim with whale sharks and manta rays in the Philippines, Indonesia and many other beautiful places around the world. Like many divers and ocean activists, Mermaid Kat is well aware that sharks and rays are facing an alarmingly elevated risk of extinction. So when the opportunity came up to show her support for shark conservation and raise critical funds for their survival, she jumped in! She decided to make a splash for sharks by setting up a Finathon™ challenge for the Miss Scuba UK 2014 finalists in the beautiful Red Sea town of El Gouna.
"I am really looking forward to this event and it's an honor for me to become an ambassador for Project AWARE" commented Mermaid Kat.
Taking place from 26 April to 3 May 2014, the Miss Scuba competition will see the UK finalists put through a series of water-based and scuba diving related challenges and fun activities, including a three-day scuba diving PADI certification course, free-diving, and of course what promises to be one of the highlights of the contest: the Project AWARE mermaid themed Finathon™.
