Shark Teachers Inspired These Fins 📚🦈 Dive With Purpose! #OceanLife #MySharkTeachers #Avi

In honor of those whom we work to protect, some of my greatest “shark teachers” whom I am so grateful to have grown up with. These are some of the sharks I have thought of daily for the past couple decades, the interactions I’ve had with them over the years were significant and gaining insight into some of the struggles of their life further fueled and inspired my voice and actions to help push to get them protected at home in Hawai’i As time goes by we see increased signs of human impacts on some individuals, but delight to see seasonal glimpses of how others are thriving. In an ocean increasingly filled with man-made debris and harmful entanglement these sharks, along with many others, swim a gauntlet on their migrational paths with decreasing chances of survival, except for the fact that they are now protected by law while close to the islands. Getting to know sharks as individuals is a privilege I never take for granted, to see their personalities over time lends to a deeper appreciation and inspires care. Perhaps it is human nature to care more for those you spend the most time with, those you get to know better, on a deeper level. To me these fins are another way to bring tribute to them and to be reminded of their stories and lessons. As I wrote in “My Shark Teachers” book, sharks and nature have truly been my greatest teacher 🦈 These fins were designed by @Faith Fairing shark conservationist and biologist who now runs the @oneoceansharks @oeoceanresearch non-invasive shark identification dataset with @kaitlyn.ehlers, with beautiful images contributed by @juansharks @ethanrich & @mevans283 Non-invasive research methods mean sharks are not being hooked (risking their jaws breaking), they are not being stabbed, cut, drilled, or restrained, and while photo identification is a more laborious process, it allows us to gather an immense amount of information over time without harm. Photo identification is also something divers and citizen scientists can help participate in. Check out @oneoceansharks to learn more and get a pair of these via the link @oceanconservationfins while supplies last. #sharkfins #mysharkteachers #sharkdivefins #freedive #sharkid_avi