Summary: Adopt-A-Bull Shark Initiative

Conservation efforts such as ‘citizen science’ are an important part of positively engaging the public and increasing our understanding of sharks, both ecologically and economically. When you ADOPT A BULL SHARK, your generous, tax-deductible, donation helps fund ‘citizen science for sharks’ all over the world, including Fiji, Ecuador, Peru, and Indonesia; and supports the application of those efforts to local and international conservation actions.

Why is this important? Many shark populations are declining worldwide often due to the demands from the international shark fin trade, as well as by-catch pressures from other fisheries. The reproduction rates of many large sharks make it difficult for their populations to rebound from such impacts. Depletion of apex predators can adversely impact our ocean ecosystems yet the perception of ‘shifting baselines’ can mask these depletions. Long-time divers often report seeing far fewer sharks today than when they first starting diving, decades ago. Please help support our work to empower divers to document their valuable shark sightings; ADOPT A BULL SHARK today!

Fiji’s Bull Sharks:

When you ADOPT A BULL SHARK you will receive exclusive, detailed information to learn about a specific, known and studied animal from the local shark divers and scientists who interact with them daily in Fiji’s Shark Reef Marine Reserve. You can even receive updates about YOUR bull shark over the coming year!

The bull sharks that visit Fiji’s Shark Reef Marine Reserve, as part of the 30-mile Fiji Shark Corridor, are very popular with divers, making them more valuable alive for sustainable eco-tourism than dead for their fins. Interestingly, Fiji’s bull sharks may comprise their own subspecies. A recent study found that bull sharks in Fiji have a different genetic structure from other studied bull shark populations – and they tend to be BIGGER! The Shark Reef Marine Reserve has identified (via natural tags such as scars, fin shape or distinctive markings) and named over 150 bull sharks- some visit seasonally and others more sporadically. Scientists and local Fijian divers working in the Reserve are very familiar with these sharks, as individual animals with unique behavior patterns.

What You Get:

Any amount you donate supports shark conservation! Here are the perks you will receive at each donation level:

$5 Level: a BIG shark-y “Thank You!”

• Every donation helps!

$10 Level: Social Media Shout-Out

• We will publically ‘thank you’ via Facebook or Twitter 

$25 Level: Bull Shark Adoption Package

You will receive, electronically, the following --

• Official, personalized Fijian Bull Shark Adoption Certificate
• Photo Fact Sheet about YOUR bull shark with exclusive details from the Fijian divers         and researchers who know them each individually (See examples below)

$40 Level: Shark Savers' Movie Poster 

• You will receive, electronically, the movie poster from the Shark Savers' film "Now, More Than Ever, Sharks Count!". This film was selected for several film festivals, and was a finalist for "Best Interactive Media Campaign" at the Blue Ocean Film Festival in 2012. This poster was exclusively designed by Electrographica, and features Stan Waterman.
• Official, personalized Fijian Bull Shark Adoption Certificate
• Photo Fact Sheet about YOUR shark

$100 Level: Shark Savers’ Mini Dry Bag

• Official Shark Savers' logo mini dry bag (for cell phones, wallets and small cameras)
• Official, personalized Fijian Bull Shark Adoption Certificate
• Photo Fact Sheet about YOUR shark

$300 Level: Unique Shark Tooth Necklace

• You'll receive Calypso Sea's handmade, sustainable shark tooth necklace (made from a naturally shed shark tooth from Shark Reef Marine Reserve, Fiji)
• Official, personalized Fijian Bull Shark Adoption Certificate
• Photo Fact Sheet about YOUR shark

 $500 Level: Adopt-A-Bull Shark For A Year

• You’ll receive bi-annual updates about YOUR adopted shark directly from Shark Reef Marine Reserve, Fiji, for one year
• Calypso Sea's handmade, sustainable shark tooth necklace
• Official, personalized Fijian Bull Shark Adoption Certificate
• Photo Fact Sheet about YOUR shark

$1000 Level: Name Your Own Bull Shark

• When a new bull shark is identified in the Reserve, YOU will choose the official name!          The name you choose will be announced via blog and social media
• Meet YOUR bull shark in the Reserve  guided by local, expert Fijian shark divers of Beqa Adventure Divers! (Three days of diving)
  
• Official, personalized Fijian Bull Shark Adoption Certificate
• Photo Fact Sheet about YOUR shark
• You’ll receive bi-annual updates about YOUR newly-named shark directly from Shark Reef Marine Reserve, Fiji, for one year
• Calypso Sea's handmade, sustainable shark tooth necklace

$2500 Level: Meet YOUR Bull Shark

• Meet YOUR bull shark in the Reserve guided by local, expert Fijian shark divers of Beqa Adventure Divers! You will receive a FULL WEEK of diving!
• When a new bull shark is identified in the Reserve, YOU will choose the official name!       The new name will be announced via blog and social media
• Official, personalized Fijian Bull Shark Adoption Certificate
• Photo Fact Sheet about YOUR shark
• You’ll receive bi-annual updates about YOUR adopted shark directly from Shark Reef Marine Reserve, Fiji, for one year
• Calypso Sea's handmade, sustainable shark tooth necklace 

$3000 Level: JAWS Film Crew Autographed T-shirt 

• An original, unworn, one-of-a-kind, JAWS film crew T-shirt from the 1975 production. This shirt was owned and was donated to Shark Savers by Valerie and Ron Taylor. Valerie and Ron were the shark consultants for the movie, and Valerie was also the stunt double for some of the scenes with real sharks. The shirt was later signed by shark conservationists Wendy Benchley, and pioneer underwater film producer and photographer Stan Waterman; the associate producer and underwater photographer for the iconic film “Blue Water, White Death”
  
• Official, personalized Fijian Bull Shark Adoption Certificate
  
• Photo Fact Sheet about YOUR shark

$5000 Level: A Week Of Diving With YOUR Bull Shark For 2 People

• Meet YOUR bull shark in the Reserve guided by local, expert Fijian shark divers of Beqa Adventure Divers! You will receive a week of diving (5-two tank shark dives, and 2-two tank reef or wreck dives), for TWO people!
• When a new bull shark is identified in the Reserve, YOU will choose the official name!       The new name will be announced via blog and social media.
• Official, personalized Fijian Bull Shark Adoption Certificate
• Photo Fact Sheet about YOUR shark
• You’ll receive bi-annual updates about YOUR adopted shark directly from Shark Reef Marine Reserve, Fiji, for one year
• Calypso Sea's handmade, sustainable shark tooth necklace 

Our Partners:

Shark Reef Marine Reserve

The Shark Reef Marine Reserve was established in April 2004, and is one of the first protected areas specifically designated to protect sharks. There are regularly eight different species of sharks associate with the Reserve. The Reserve was established via an agreement with a local village with traditional rights to the area; they agreed not to fish the Reserve, and in exchange, the dive operators would have exclusive access charging visitors a fee that, in turn, is provided to the village. The reserve was later expanded to the 30-mile Fiji Shark Corridor that effectively protects species that roam larger ranges. Therefore, the Reserve is economically beneficial to the villages and ecologically beneficial to the sharks and the reef!

Beqa Adventure Divers       

Beqa Adventure Divers is home to ‘The Fiji Shark Dive’ and is committed to conservation and sustainable eco-tourism. Named “The Best Shark Dive in the World” by diving legends Ron and Valerie Taylor, this epic dive has been experienced by many diving icons, filmmakers, journalists, scientists, and shark enthusiasts from all over the world. This is the original featuring Fiji’s unique and highly experienced crew of local shark divers. They also worked closely with the government of Fiji and the traditional owners of the reef to establish the Shark Reef Marine Reserve. Today, their dedicated team is part of on-going international research on the bull sharks, and conducts regular surveys in the Reserve including The Great Fiji Shark Count – the first national count of sharks using data from recreational divers and dive operators as ‘citizen scientists’. Shark diving doesn’t get any better than that!

SharksCount           

SharksCount is a Shark Savers program that empowers divers to identify and log the sharks they see on their recreational dives to become ‘citizen scientists for sharks’. Over time, these sightings can provide essential information about local shark populations to aid in improving protections for sharks. The program promotes and supports citizen science initiatives by developing local partnerships, promoting sustainable and meaningful eco-tourism, and developing the simple and fun tools for divers to learn to easily identify shark species and catalog this valuable information. Citizen science initiatives, such as SharksCount, support ‘scientific democracy’, wherein data is shared among scientists, policy makers, and the general public thereby creating positive collaborations with local conservation groups.

Calypso Sea

Tanya Burnett is the artist behind Calypso Sea, creating the one-of-a-kind, sustainable shark tooth necklaces for the ADOPT-A-BULL SHARK initiative. Tanya grew up in the Caribbean and finds inspiration in nature, especially the ocean. She has been designing and crafting high-end jewelry from natural gems, ethnic beads and pearls for nearly 20 years. The shark teeth in these necklaces are shed naturally and collected in the Shark Reef Marine Reserve (Fiji). The leather cording used in these necklaces is free of dyes and toxins, and softened with only 100% organic coconut oil. Because every shark tooth is slightly different (depending on the size and species of shark), each necklace is a unique creation!

Aqualise

Aqualise is Nicolas Bulostin’s project. The inspiration for which is his passionate love of the sea and his desire to help preserve our oceans and sea life, and raising awareness from an educational perspective. It is not only an artist project, it's also the first record label dedicated to protecting the oceans "Aqualise Music". By creating awareness and through donations to non-profit marine wildlife organizations, Aqualise actively helps to contribute to the conservation of our environment. 

Scuba Diver Girls

Based out of San Diego, California, Scuba Diver Girls are all about getting in the water and having a great time diving! We encourage all divers but mainly women to either get certified or to keep diving by creating a fun and inviting community. Since we know that diving is more fun in a clean, healthy ocean, we volunteer our time to help conservation groups with their projects and fundraising.

Waterlust 

Waterlust (waterlust.org) began as a handful of graduate students trying to inspire people to care about the ocean. Today it has grown into a global community of water lovers, or as we call them Waterlusters. Blending science, art, and sport, we publishfilm, photography, and art online that will hopefully get you thinking. Our Waterlust Team is also passionate about teaching other people how to be filmmakers. By doing so, we are supporting a community of water lovers that will produce high quality content for the rest of their careers. This enables us to raise more awareness than we ever could on our own.

OTS 

OTS (www.oceantechnologysystems.com) offers a complete line of full face masks and Ultrasonic Transceivers designed for the Sport Diver to enhance your diving, letting you share the excitement of diving while the action is happening. 

Other Ways You Can Help:

You can help support this initiative by getting the word out!

Please share ADOPT-A-BULL SHARK Initiative with your friends and family though social media with the helpful buttons below.

Please feel free to contact us at ADOPTABULLSHARK@sharksavers.org.

Learn More At:

Shark Savers www.sharksavers.org/home

SharksCount www.sharksavers.org/sharkscount

Univerisity of Miami-RSMAS MPS Internships http://mps.rsmas.miami.edu/internship/

Shark Reef Marine Reserve fijisharkdive.com/conservation

Marty Wolff Fine Art Photography http://www.martywolff.com

Aqualise Music http://www.aqualise.com

Scuba Diver Girls http://scubadivergirls.com

Waterlust http://www.waterlust.org

OTS http://www.oceantechnologysystems.com

THANK YOU!