Makos and whale sharks competed through Shark Awareness Day 

FORT LAUDERDALE/DANIA BEACH, FLORIDA – And the winner is . . . After a nearly seven-month journey spanning more than a combined 29,100 miles, Nova Southeastern University  NSU’s Guy Harvey Research Institute (GHRI) has announced the winners of The Great Shark Race 2021 which began in January and ended at midnight on Shark Awareness Day, July 14.

The Great Shark Race 2021 was divided into two races: the shortfin makos, the fastest marine creatures on the planet that can swim up to 44 miles per hour, and the whale sharks, the gigantic shark species, which, not surprisingly, are some of the slowest swimmers. The three racing mako sharks traveled a combined 8,900+ miles. 

• Cuddles, sponsored by Penmanship, was declared the victor with 3,207 miles logged, followed closely by;
• Caison, sponsored by Certified Contracting Group, Inc., traveling 3,073 miles, and;
• Fishangler, sponsored by Fishangler App, which finished third with 2,627 miles.

As for the whale shark category, there was an interesting “side race” within the division that pitted NBC national news anchor Lester Holt against NBC reporter Kerry Sanders, who is known for his affinity for sharks. Lester beat out Kerry, 4,718.73 miles to 3,058.14 miles. 

The five whale shark racers were:

• AGT-Milo2, sponsored by Advanced Green Technologies, was declared the victor with 4,177 miles logged; followed by;
• Glass Cutter, sponsored by Miller Glass & Glazing, Inc., with 2,761 miles;
• Diablo, sponsored by Crawford Roofing, Inc., which traveled 2,717.64 miles.
• Contagious Energy, sponsored by the Moss Foundation, which travelled 1,979 miles; and
• Speed Racer, sponsored by the Boatyard Restaurant, which travelled 873 miles for 56 days before its tag got entangled in fishing line and stopped reporting.

As different as they may seem in terms of size and speed, both shark species in the Great Shark Race have something in common – they are endangered. The main goal of this unusual race is to further key scientific research aimed at saving these and other endangered shark species.

“Everyone loves a contest, so we thought this could be a great, fun, engaging way to raise public awareness about the dire status of both these endangered shark species and an effective way to attract sponsors to further fund this long-term research. The announcement was timed to Shark Week when the spotlight shines brightest on sharks,” said Mahmood Shivji, Ph.D., director of NSU’s GHRI and Save Our Seas Foundation Shark Research Center. “From the work we’ve done, we know that both these species can travel up to 12,000 miles in one year so our goal is to use new data to understand where they go, when they go and potentially why they travel to these specific locations.” 

The latest in ocean wildlife tracking technology was used to measure race results. A fin-mounted SPOT satellite tag on each shark allowed them to be tracked in near real time on the GHRI Race Tracking Website. These SPOT tags relayed crucial data back to researchers, including the distance that each shark covered as they swam around the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico or Caribbean Sea. 

The presenting sponsor for each race category were FishAngler App for the makos and The Moss Foundationfor the whale sharks. In addition to the companies Certified Contracting Group, Inc., Advanced Green Technologies, Crawford Roofing, Inc., Miller Glass & Glazing, Inc., and Boatyard Restaurant, individual shark sponsors were Penmanship and Gordon James III.

“As we continue the long-term project of working with GHRI researchers at NSU, we learn more and more how important sharks are to preserving healthy ocean ecosystems,” said world-renowned artist, conservationist and scientist Dr. Guy Harvey, chairman of the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation, which conducts scientific research and hosts educational programs aimed at conserving the marine environment, ensuring that future generations can enjoy and benefit from a properly balanced ocean ecosystem. “The Great Shark Race 2021 was a success and brought in much needed funds to continue our research. We sincerely thank all who supported us during this race. It is an amazing educational opportunity and a critical research initiative.”According to NSU’s GHRI research, up to 73 million sharks a year end up in the global shark fin trade, and some estimates say that annually approximately 100 million sharks are removed from the world’s oceans. Case in point: approximately 30% of the mako sharks tagged by NSU’s GHRI research scientists have been lost. These are clearly not sustainable numbers, and it should alarm everyone. It’s why creating awareness about this issue is more important than ever.

About Nova Southeastern University (NSU): At NSU, students don’t just get an education, they get the competitive edge they need for real careers, real contributions and real life. A dynamic, private research university, NSU is providing high-quality educational and research programs at the undergraduate, graduate, and professional degree levels. Established in 1964, the university includes 15 colleges, the 215,000-square-foot Center for Collaborative Research, the private JK-12 grade University School, the world-class NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale, and the Alvin Sherman Library, Research and Information Technology Center, one of Florida’s largest public libraries. NSU students learn at our campuses in Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Jacksonville, Miami, Miramar, Orlando, Palm Beach, and Tampa, Florida, as well as San Juan, Puerto Rico, and online globally. With nearly 200,000 alumni across the globe, the reach of the NSU community is worldwide.  Classified as having “high research activity” by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, NSU is one of only 59 universities nationwide to also be awarded Carnegie’s Community Engagement Classification, and is also the largest private institution in the United States that meets the U.S. Department of Education’s criteria as a Hispanic-serving Institution. Please visitwww.nova.edu for more information.

About the Guy Harvey Research Institute: Established in 1999, the Guy Harvey Research Institute (GHRI) at Nova Southeastern University (NSU) provides the scientific information necessary to understand, conserve, and effectively manage the world’s marine fishes and their ecosystems. The GHRI is one of only a handful of private organizations dedicated exclusively to the science-based conservation of marine fish populations and biodiversity. For more information, please visit: www.cnso.nova.edu/ghri. 

About the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation: The Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation (GHOF) conducts scientific research and hosts educational programs aimed at conserving the marine environment. The GHOF also funds affiliated researchers working to better understand our ocean ecosystem and educators helping to foster the next era of marine conservationists. The GHOF will help ensure that future generations can enjoy and benefit from a properly balanced ocean ecosystem. Follow the GHOF on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @guyharveyocean. For more information, visit www.GHOF.org.

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Improving environmental standards is critical because 70% of divers contact the reef while diving and 36% are unaware of doing so

The Reef-World Foundation – the international coordinator of Green Fins – is pleased to announce the launch of the new Green Fins Diver e-Course. This new online course is designed to help recreational divers protect coral reefs by learning how to conduct more environmentally friendly dives.

Improving the behaviour of recreational divers is critical for the survival of coral reefs because an average of 70% of divers contact the reef while diving.* What’s more, divers contact the reef an average of 5.79 times per dive and 36% of those who contacted the reef were unaware they did so. The cumulative impact is significant: over one million new divers are certified annually and ‘on-reef’ tourism is valued at USD $19 billion per year. If these millions of divers learn how to be more environmentally aware and have zero impact dives, it would have a huge impact on the protection of our precious coral reefs for future generations. 

All divers, whether professional or recreational, can minimise their impact on the ocean by following environmental best practice while diving. The new Green Fins Diver e-Course is the only course which teaches scuba divers how to prevent diving-related damage to coral reefs by following the highest environmental standards, as set out by the Green Fins initiative. It teaches divers how to behave on the reef to prevent them causing environmental damage; helping to protect coral and other marine life one dive at a time. Divers around the world can take this course for just £19 by enrolling here. 

Diving related damage to sensitive marine ecosystems, including coral reefs, is becoming an increasingly significant issue. Even a small breakage from an errant fin kick can cause damage that takes months to recover from; not to mention other negative actions above the water such as littering or buying souvenirs made of marine life. On heavily dived reefs, the cumulative impact of unmanaged tourism can be huge. This damage makes them less likely to survive other local and wider stressors, such as overfishing or run-off from land containing pollutants and plastic debris as well the effects of climate change, such as rising sea temperatures. Research has shown divers who receive environmental information and understand their potential impact on reefs cause significantly less damage to coral.

Following 2019’s successful Green Fins Dive Guide e-Course, the Green Fins Diver e-Course now enables Reef-World to meet the demand for education about sustainable diving from recreational divers. The new course covers straightforward techniques such as best environmental practices from equipment care to underwater photography, above and below the water, which are proven to reduce the level of environmental damage associated with diving. 

The course provides divers with three online modules of easy-to-follow content followed by corresponding tests on an intuitive, user-friendly platform:

• Module 1: an introduction to coral reef biology, global and local threats to the marine environment and the Green Fins approach.
• Module 2: management techniques above water, such as how to prepare and plan an environmentally friendly dive trip: from booking your trip at home to best practices on the boat and caring for your equipment post dive.
• Module 3: applying best diving practices below water on every dive, learning tips for diving with the least environmental impact and how to have longer marine life interactions as well as how to be an environmentally responsible underwater photographer. Finally, suggesting ways in which divers can use the best practices they have learned and contribute to citizen science projects.

There is a short test at the end of each module which diver must pass in order to finish the course. 

The course is available for £19 and, on completion, students will receive a personalised electronic certificate, which is valid for two years and can be displayed as a stamp of individual awareness. The course content will be updated regularly with the latest industry knowledge about environmental best practice so after two years students are encouraged to retake the course to refresh their skills. The proceeds from course certificates support Reef-World’s work to implement the Green Fins programme around the world. Divers who cannot afford to take the course can apply for the Green Fins Diver e-Course Scholarship Fund to receive the certification free of charge. 

Gabriel Grimsditch, marine ecosystems expert at the UN Environment Programme, said: “The Green Fins Diver e-Course is more critical than ever to help ensure the survival of reefs and the diving industry. Divers now have a clear roadmap to champion environmental sustainability as our tourism industries build back better.”

JJ Harvey, Director at The Reef-World Foundation, said: “The Green Fins Diver e-Course enables divers from all backgrounds to become more environmentally aware, understand the main environmental threats posed by scuba diving and be able to minimise those threats. We’re so proud of the results from our 2019 course and we’re excited that we can now also meet demand from recreational divers worldwide who want to reduce their negative impact on the coral reefs they visit.”

Green Fins is the only internationally recognised environmental standard for dive and snorkel operators, established through a partnership between the UN Environment Programme and The Reef-World Foundation. Green Fins uses a unique and proven three-pronged approach; green certifications of dive centres, strengthening regulations and environmental education for dive staff, divers and government. 

For more information, or to sign up for the Green Fins Diver e-Course, please visit: https://greenfins.net/green-fins-diver/ 

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12 very committed people managed to clean up approximately 350kg of trash from a neglected area near Klong Son river mouth in just over 2h. Much of the trash we found was very old and was well on its way to becoming secondary microplastics. Thankfully it was removed and disposed of before the pollution became irreversible.

About CORALYFE

Over the past 5 years, a number of local organizations have been collaborating with the Hat Nopparat Thara National Park, acting on issues such as trash handling, anchor damage, mooring lines, marine organism censuses, reef restoration, etc. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic many of these organizations were forced to interrupt their services, and many had to shut down completely.

As part of the former staff of one of these organizations, Coralyfe founders felt a personal responsibility to resume work on these important projects, aiming to restore the health of local coral reefs and to reverse the damage that countless years of unregulated tourism and human activity have caused. To visit the website, please CLICK HERE; Facebook Page.