APRIL 2014

Ao Nang, Thailand: On the 4th of April Shark Guardian hosted an event for the diving community in Ao Nang, Thailand. We had a really great response from the audience and divers in the area who were very excited to learn more about sharks, conservation and the Thailand eShark Project. Read the full blog here

Earth Week – Bangkok and Chiang Mai Schools: Shark Guardian had a wonderful time in Bangkok schools at the start of earth week 2014. With earth day celebrations happening on different days around the world, it was fantastic to see how schools were playing their part to protect the planet and incorporating sharks in to their important focus. Shark Guardian visited International School Bangkok, Wells and Shrewsbury at the start of earth week before heading to the north of Thailand. 1200 children saw Shark Guardian in action over 16 sessions in Bangkok and another 600 students in Chiang Mai joined in the shark education.Read the full blog here for the Bangkok schools and view the full blog from the Chiang Mai tour here.

MAY 2014

Thailand eShark Project: With over 4,400 entries of data collected, Thailand eShark has been a great success! The information gathered during is extremely valuable for conservation of sharks in Thailand. The results from the Thailand eShark Project 2013/2014 will be used as a foundation for phase 2 that will start on the 1st November 2014 and run until 30th April 2015. Now that we have established a baseline of information to work from, we can start to compare information gathered again in the following year around the same time. This will be vital for us to look at the long term reduced, or increased sightings of sharks numbers and species across Thailand. This information can then be used to establish action plans for improved shark conservation projects in Thailand.

The Thailand eShark data base is active for entries! Should you have any back data that you would like to submit, please do so here

June 2014

Hong Kong 2014 Tour: Shark Guardian were very happy to return to Hong kong for a tour of 14 schools in May/June 2014. 2000 students saw Shark Guardian in action in Hong Kong, with 21 presentations over 11 days of presenting! We also have a Shark Guardian Leader in training, plus more than 10 students ready to join our International Student Shark Ambassador Program. A fantastic success on so many levels! Follow the links below to read the full blog reports from the Shark Guardian Hong Kong tour:

Hong Kong Shark Guardian tour – part 1 Blog

Hong Kong Shark Guardian tour – part 2 Blog

Hong Kong Shark Guardian tour – part 3 Blog

Shark Guardian Presentations in Indonesia: From May 27th-30th Shark Guardian Leader Caroline Hills got the chance to spread some shark love across the Lombok area. First stop was Oceans 5 on Gili Air where the presentation addressed 22 American students from The University of Georgia focussing on interactions between culture, tourism and sustainability. Read the full blog here

Thailand East Coast tour: Shark Guardian had a fantastic time at the end of June 2014 visiting the three key scuba diving islands in the Gulf of Thailand: Koh Tao, Koh Phangan and Koh Samui. This is the first time Shark Guardian have taken their shark and marine presentation to the Gulf. The dive communities as well as tourists and other professionals really enjoyed the shark education.We now look forward to increased participation in our Thailand eShark project and other conservation efforts.

Read the full blog here

SHARK NEWS

Australia Cull Update

Western Australia’s strategy of catching and killing sharks via baited hooks is “indiscriminate” with no evidence that it will make the ocean safer for swimmers and surfers, according to a group of 301 scientists from around the world.

The EPA is assessing the impact of the shark strategy, which was run as a 13-week trial from January by the WA government. The program involved the setting up of baited hooks, attached to drumlines, 1km out from more than 70 beaches in the Perth and southwest WA area.

In total, 172 sharks were caught in the trial period, of which 163 were tiger sharks and none were great whites, considered the most dangerous species. The WA government plans to reintroduce the program for a three-year period.

Read the full article here

Shark fin bans by airlines

Just recently Singapore Airlines joined the growing list of airlines to ban transportation of shark fin and other shark products! There are now some 23 shark fin free airlines. Here’s the full list:-

Cebu Pacific

Singapore Airlines

Etihad Airways

Air Seychelles

Philippine Airlines

Air Asia

Garuda Indonesia

Korean Airlines

Asiana Airlines

Emirates

Eva Air

Qantas

Air New Zealand

Qatar Airways

KLM

Swiss

FinnAir

Lufthansa

Lan Chile / LATAM Airlines Group

Aeroméxico

Fiji Airways

Cathay Pacific

Dragonair. 

Who will be next? Lets hope Thai Airways! Thai Airways was sent a letter over a year ago asking them to consider removing shark fin and other shark products from their cargo. The letter was supported by a host of organizations, NGOs and Shark Guardian. Since the letter was delivered there has been no response from Thai Airways. Now steps are being taken to try and contact Thai Airways again especially after the confirmation of Singapore Airlines finally acknowledging to remove shark from their cargo. Watch this space for more information soon!