Shark Stewards: Turning Conservation Into Customer Engagement by Gil Zeimer

This Issue’s Table of Contents
category: Eco Pro (5 min read)

Sharks under pressure: 335 species are threatened with extinction.

by Gil Zeimer, ScubaStoryteller.com and Zeimer.com, San Rafael, CA. His first book, “Scuba Storyteller: Mostly Humorous Diving Tales by an Addicted AquaNut” is now available on BestPub.com.

Click here to read this article on our Flippingbook platform.

THIS SERIES HAS presented “Blue” initiatives that can make your business more sustainable while helping increase your bottom line. This month, we look at Shark Stewards, a nonprofit organization that gives dive businesses, instructors, resorts, and liveaboards a meaningful way to connect shark conservation with customer education.

David McGuire of Berkeley, California, has spent more than 20 years working to protect sharks.

He is the founder and director of Shark Stewards, a nonprofit dedicated to saving endangered sharks from overfishing and the shark fin trade, while protecting critical marine habitats through regulation, education, and public policy.

David has also been a diver for half a century, an ocean swimmer, marine biologist, writer, author, documentary filmmaker, and producer of several award-winning films focused on the world’s most ancient cartilaginous fish species. He also teaches, lectures at universities such as UC Berkeley, and mentors underserved youth through marine science and field experiences.

He says, “One-third of all sharks and rays are threatened with extinction. Sharks keep the oceans healthy. We rely on the oceans for over half of our oxygen, and the oceans are a major carbon sink. Saving sharks can keep us breathing, balance ecosystems, and mitigate the impacts caused by climate change.”

Why This Matters to Dive Businesses: For dive professionals, sharks are more than marine life. They are part of the story we tell guests, students, and travelers about why healthy oceans matter. A shark encounter can be one of the most memorable moments of a diver’s life. But those moments are only possible when shark populations and the habitats that support them are protected. That creates an opportunity for dive businesses to do more than sell trips or teach courses. It allows them to educate customers, support conservation, and build a stronger emotional connection to the underwater world.

Retailers can use shark conservation to create evening programs, customer events, youth education nights, and community partnerships. Resorts and liveaboards can incorporate shark facts into briefings, promote responsible shark encounters, and support local marine protected areas. Instructors can help students replace fear-based myths with science-based understanding. That is how a “Blue” business becomes more than environmentally aware. It becomes more valuable to its customers.

Some Threats Identified by Shark Stewards:

According to Shark Stewards:

80 to 100 million sharks and rays are killed each year for the wildlife trade.
71% of oceanic sharks and rays are gone.
There has been more than a 50% loss of habitat.
335 species are threatened with extinction.

Those numbers are not just conservation statistics. They affect the future of dive tourism, marine education, underwater photography, and the experiences our industry depends upon.

Paid Advertisement

Supporting California MPAs and National Marine Sanctuaries: Shark Stewards is an active member of the California Marine Protected Area Collaborative Network. Coordinating its efforts with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Ocean Protection Council, the nonprofit works with important stakeholders in coastal protection.

Shark Stewards also helped commemorate the 50th anniversary of the National Marine Sanctuary System in 2022, including the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, and the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary, which protects the site of America’s first ironclad ship.

Under a grant from the Ocean Protection Council, Shark Stewards has also helped develop a free online educational series of training modules designed for docents, volunteers, and the engaged public in California Marine Protected Areas.

For dive businesses, these efforts provide useful examples. Conservation does not always have to mean creating a large new program from scratch. It can start with staff education, guest briefings, local partnerships, citizen science, or simply pointing customers toward credible organizations doing meaningful work.

Shark Stewards: Turning
Conservation Into Customer Engagement
by Gil Zeimer

How Dive Businesses Can Help: Ask your staff and customers to follow Shark Stewards on social media and learn about current campaigns to protect National Marine Sanctuaries and endangered species such as sharks, rays, turtles, and whales.

Consider hosting a shark conservation night at your store or resort. Invite a speaker, show a documentary, or build an event around shark awareness and responsible diving. For retailers, this can bring divers back into the store between trips. For resorts and liveaboards, it can add depth to the guest experience and help guests understand the importance of the marine life they came to see.

scuba_diving_industry_magazine_gil_zeimer_how_to_write_book

Dive professionals can also encourage customers to volunteer, support marine protected areas, reduce plastic waste, and choose operators who promote responsible marine wildlife interactions. Finally, donations to groups such as Shark Stewards help support efforts to enforce shark fin trade bans, regulate fisheries, and protect marine habitats.

The Bottom Line: David adds, “It’s incumbent that we share the ocean with the next generation. Take your kids diving. Being in the water with sharks is like seeing a god, but they’re the most at-risk group of animals in the world.” That message should resonate with every dive professional. We introduce people to the ocean. We teach them how to move through it safely. We help them understand what they are seeing. And, when we do it well, we create divers who care about protecting it. That is good conservation. It is also good business.

David McGuire’s book, Sharks for Kids: A Junior Scientist’s Guide to Great Whites, Hammerheads, and Other Sharks in the Sea, is available for young readers.

Paid Advertisement