| Sharks Savers first event in Hong Kong: Dive Resort and Travel Expo |
| Written by Jonn Lu |
| Wednesday, 11 August 2010 15:02 |
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Shark Savers Hong Kong, the first South East Asian beachhead kick started their involvement with us in early July for the Hong Kong Dive Resort and Travel Expo.
A team of Hong Kong, US, and South African Shark Savers worked feverishly to get everything ready for a good show, designing a theme, banners for our booth, the first film from our recent production in Hong Kong, and other materials. With only weeks of lead time, the teams managed to get translation, artwork, video and content ready in record time. During the 3 days of the Expo, Shark Savers' Hong Kong based volunteers secured 2,532 individual pledges that they will say "No" to shark fin soup henceforth. and a similar number of signers to the petition to create a Shark Sanctuary in Raja Ampat, Indonesia. This was a tremendous boost to our efforts in the ASEAN region. At the expo, Shark Savers volunteers canvassed the crowd to create awareness for the plight of sharks, armed with shark handpuppets, a shark costume and Say 'No' to Shark Fin Soup stickers. These stickers quickly became one of the hottest "must-have" item at the expo. Also, an installation featuring a fisherman's net and shark silhouettes entangled in it caught the attention of many, driving home the message that sharks are in trouble with overfishing pressures, waste and the looming specter of extinction. Contest Winners:Pau Ling and Todd Barr showed up smiling like blue sharks for a photo and video shoot last week. Out of almost 2,000 contestants, Pau Ling won the prize by answering all questions in the shark quiz correctly and also with her personal statements about the shark conservation issue. Pau Ling is 38 weeks pregnant.
SharkSwim 2010 Try-OutsWhen: August 1st.
Swimmers from HKUA, WWF and Shark Savers HK thrashed about in the sea for a distance of about 800m, with a dorsal fin strapped onto their backs. Some swam with fins and snorkels, some did the breast stroke, while others blitz away like torpedoes with the front crawl. Of note, Christian Ross, a one-legged dragonboater swam for the Shark Savers Team. The event attracted media attention: http://www.hkatvnews.com/v3/share_out/_content/2010/08/01/atvnews_141993.html |
