Show your support - Adopt a Shark!

World Record Diving Malta will be supported by Sharklab-Malta during our upcoming Finathon Challenge. Sharklab-Malta is a local NGO dedicated to research, education and raising awareness about all Elasmobranch around the Maltese islands. WRDMalta would like to promote Sharklab-Malta's 'Adopt a Shark' campaign. 

The sharks available for adoption have all been recovered as fertilised eggs from their mothers landed by fishermen at the main Maltese wholesale fish market. In the past these eggs were simply thrown into the waste bins, but now they have a chance to survive and with your support, Sharklab-Malta aim to support their development and release them back to where they belong. The two Oviparous (egg-laying) species which can be adopted are Smallerspotted Catsharks (Scyliorhinus canicula) and Nursehounds (Scyliorhinus stellaris).

The “Adopt a Shark” campaign is part of the “Oviparous species Recovery and Release Program”, which is coordinated by Sharklab-Malta and supported by the Malta National Aquarium. This campaign is focussed on education and will also help to raise funds for the running of this campaign and to enable Sharklab-Malta to undertake further research.

So What Happens When You “Adopt a Shark”?

1. Upon receiving your completed adoption form and payment of €25, Sharklab-Malta will send you the adoption pack, which includes details of the recovery and release program and information about the species you have chosen to adopt.

2. After approximately 6 months you will receive a picture of the species you adopted and your very own shark eggcase, just like the one your shark will have hatched from!!

3. And finally you will be personally invited to witness the release of sharks back where they belong. 

Visit:
http://www.sharklab-malta.org/images/Sharklab/Sharklab/adopt-a-shark.pdf to adopt a shark today! Simply fill out the form and return it to Sharklab-Malta and be part of making a difference!

JAWSOME!

One of the main reasons why WRDMalta's Sean McGahern has chosen to spend a number of days inside the shark tank at the Malta National Aquarium is to try and change people's perception of sharks. 

Unfortunately, far too many people picture the pneumatically powered great white shark prop from the film 'JAWS' upon hearing the word 'Shark'. The film made the mistake of portraying great white sharks as vengeful predators, and this had a massive impact on people's perception of sharks in general. Even today, a very large percentage of mankind seem to be under the impression that all sharks are bloodthirsty man-eating machines and are afraid to even put their foot in the water. Sadly, the press and media make it difficult for many people to understand why sharks are worth saving, let alone why we should take measures to help protect the species.  

What mankind does not realize is that we have more of a chance of getting struct by lightening or being killed by a coconut than by a shark. Moreover, people don't realize the vast variety of shark species that there are out there and how harmless they all are to humans. 

During Sean's time in the tank, he will be greeted by black tip reef sharks and zebra sharks, amongst other marine species. So far, during training both species of shark have been completely uninterested in consuming Sean for dinner. Quite the contrary, Sean's presence has not bothered them in the slightest and they seemed pretty content to host him in their home - which is pretty damn jawsome in our opinion!!

Support Sean by donating at http://finathon.org/finathon-malta. For every $100 donated he will spend a day in the tank!