Jaws-dropping

SWIMMER BRAVES SHARKS TO PROMOTE THEIR PROTECTION

Endurance swimmer and ocean advocate Lewis Pugh has begun an epic 60-mile (96km) 12 day 'shark swim' on the 50th anniversary of the movie 'Jaws' to shift perception and highlight the importance of protecting Great White Sharks.

No stranger to pioneering swims, often in the most vulnerable ecosystems on Earth to campaign for their protection, Lewis was the first person to complete a long-distance swim in every ocean of the world. Embarking on the 'shark swim' on Thursday 15th May 2025, around Martha's Vineyard, in the US, where the 'Jaws' film was made, Lewis, a United Nations Environment Program Patron of the Oceans said: "... I readily admit that I'm frightened of sharks - but I'm really frightened of a world without sharks, they're essential for a healthy ocean."

He likened it to an apex predator being removed from the land which would lead to a huge increase in other species leading to overgrazing and causing "ecological collapse" and is calling to an end to their killing.

"The main direct threat to sharks is simply overfishing, 100 million sharks are killed every year, so on average that's 274,000 every day. It's ecocide."

"Sharks are integral to ocean health, and ocean health is integral to human survival. This is not just about future generations. We must learn to respect and protect sharks today, and this will be my key message."

Protection of great white sharks has enabled some recovery of the species around Martha's Vineyard, (where Pugh's team will take precautions to reduce his encounters with them), but elsewhere, globally, Great White Sharks are under constant threat.

" I think the greatest threat is indifference, it's the belief that sharks really don't matter, that this catastrophic crash in their numbers will not ultimately impact you. It will, because they're guardians of the oceans, and oceans are essential for all life on Earth," he warned.

Pugh's swim comes just weeks before a key UN ocean conference in France in June, where governments are under pressure to ratify a global treaty to protect the high seas, end damaging fishing practices such as bottom trawling, and deliver on the 30 by 30 commitment to protect the world's marine environment.

"Migratory species like large sharks are nature's messengers - they reveal the health of our oceans and, by extension, our planet," said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme. "Their decline is a clear signal that we are pushing marine ecosystems to the brink. We need ambitious action to protect all marine biodiversity - and we need it now."

You can follow Lewis' swim LIVE on an interactive map HERE.

Image credits: Lewis Pugh Foundation and UNEP(top right)