SHARK SAVERS is honored to have our short, citizen-science conservation film, “Now, More Than Ever, Sharks Count” showing as part of the Museum of Art | Fort Lauderdale’s SHARK exhibit curated by acclaimed wildlife artist, author and environmentalist Richard Ellis.
The museum describes the exhibit as “bringing together both art and science in documenting the world's never-ending fascination with these celebrated creatures of the sea. In addition to drawings of all the known varieties of sharks in the world, the exhibition contains photographs, sculptures, and video as well as a section devoted to the sensational impact of the 1975 Steven Spielberg film Jaws. In recent years, attention has turned to protecting the habitats of these magnificent animals and the exhibition documents advances made in those areas as well, including the July 2011 banning of all commercial shark fishing by the island nation of the Bahamas.”
The SHARK SAVERS’ film on exhibit reveals the memories of some of the first scuba divers in Florida waters to dive with sharks. Through interviews with these ‘sentinels of the sea’ combined with stunning, wild shark footage and archival/historical photographs, this mini-documentary captures the concept that there are a handful of expert witnesses alive today that, having explored Florida’s waters for more than 30 or 40 years, can attest to a time when there were far more sharks then there are today; and that what divers see now may be mere remnant populations after years of commercial exploitation – an apex predator baseline that has truly shifted. These early divers now call on a new generation of divers to log and track their shark sightings to create an important ‘citizen science’ baseline. They are counting sharks, because every shark counts
In addition to the film, Shark Savers provides museum visitors the opportunity to help protect sharks by taking action to help end the destructive demand for shark fins that supports an international trade decimating so many shark populations worldwide. They can join more than 22,000 citizens in signing the petition asking their Governors and legislators to help ban the possession, sale, and trade of shark fins in their state joining Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, and California in enacting these important and effective legal bans.
If you can’t make it to the Museum of Art | Fort Lauderdale, you can sign the petition.
The SHARK exhibition opens Saturday, May 12 with a ribbon cutting at 9:30 a.m. and family activities including a book signing with 'Shark Lady' Dr. Eugenie Clark, followed by an evening reception. The exhibition will then remain on view until January 6, 2013.
The Museum of Art is located at One East Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301. See map.
Join us!
About the Museum of Art | Fort Lauderdale
The Museum of Art | Fort Lauderdale, founded in 1958. The Museum of Art has become one of the area’s leading cultural attractions; since 2003, it has broken all South Florida museum records by hosting more than one and a half million visitors. The Museum’s collection of more than six thousand works is international in scope, while strongly reflecting the creative expression of the cultures of South Florida and the Caribbean. It is the mission of the Museum to explore the broadest spectrum of visual culture at the highest level of quality.
About the Shark Savers’ SharksCount Program
SharksCount empowers divers as ‘citizen scientists’ for sharks. We ask divers to count and identify the sharks that they see on dives; and to document when they see none. SharksCount provides the tools to log and share shark sightings for conservation purposes.
