Shark Angels are always looking for innovative ways to infect pop culture with sharks! So we were thrilled to partner with PangeaSeed - who we first worked with in Kessenuma, Japan.

In the spirit of ocean conservation, the international non-profit shark and ocean conservation organization, PangeaSeed, in collaboration with the international non-profit shark conservancy group, Shark Angels, was pleased to host an encore presentation of PangeaSeed’s The Great West Coast Migration – Art Benefit for Sharks & Oceans.  The pioneering art and film festival incorporating the works of over 100 artists and 25 filmmakers spent the summer of 2012 traveling through 6 major West Coast cities. 

This unique two-day educational awareness and fundraising event was tailored to address one of the biggest threats facing the health of the world’s oceans, the rapid mass depletion of sharks. The entire event was geared towards celebrating sharks through film, music, media and art.  

Friday November 16th - Shark Angel Education presentation, Malibu California

Written by Lisa Harris, Director of Events and Educational Programs

Walking into Point Dume Marine Science school in gorgeous Malibu California, is like walking into another world… the sea. I wanted to be 8 yrs old again and jump into their art adorned walls of whales, sharks, rays and seals. Is this really a school one would ask? Hey sign me up for this one. Who wouldn't want to be surrounded by all these amazing animals, oh and don’t forget their aquarium or what they refer to as the ' SCIENCE CENTER." 

We started our presentation with eager 5 and 6 yr olds all smiles, waiting patiently sitting crisscrossed on the auditorium floor. We were surprised, ...not really, THIS IS a marine science school lol, at their astonishing knowledge of the sharks and their habitats. Both Jamie and I led the presentation with our multiple choice power point that had the kids giggling away, especially when Jamie took out the puppets and showed them how a Hammerhead shark begins his delicate dance of eating his desired prey.

Outrage over Ontario Superior Court Judge’s decision to overturn Toronto’s ban on the sale and possession of shark fin

Toronto, Canada, December 1st, 2012 – Fin Free, the coalition of shark conservationists working together to ban the sale, trade and possession of shark fin, urges the Toronto City Council to immediately appeal Justice James Spence’s ruling against Toronto’s ban on shark fin.

On October 25, 2011, the Toronto City Council voted overwhelmingly in support of the bylaw (38-4), following suit with several other municipalities across Ontario and several states in the US. Since then, the Fin Free movement has spread internationally as well as Canada-wide, where similar bans have been adopted or proposed throughout British Columbia and Alberta.

The passage of Toronto’s shark-fin bylaw satisfies two key sections of the City of Toronto Act; including section 8(2)(5) respecting, “[e]conomic, social and environmental well-being of the City”, and section 8(2)(6) respecting, “[h]ealth, safety and well-being of persons”. Despite this, FARGA - an organization developed to fight shark fin bans - alongside four members of the Chinese business community, funded and organized an appeal to strike down Toronto’s bylaw, heard by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on November 5th. Subsequently, Justice James Spence declared Toronto’s ban as invalid based on the City’s perceived lack of power as it pertains to the enforcement of such a bylaw. The four individuals challenging the ban claimed that the bylaw unfairly targets the Chinese Community, which often notes incorrectly that the shark fins are obtained legally and do not come from endangered shark species.