Get Ready for Shark Week 2012
You’ve been waiting for it all summer, and now it’s finally here — Shark Week returns this Sunday, August 12th! Oceana is again a conservation partner, and we’ve got some fin-ominal stuff in store this year.
Need some help preparing for the sharkiest week of the year? Have no fear, we’re here to help! Here are some ways you can gear up for Shark Week’s 25th year:
1. Spread the Shark Week Love
Have your friends over for a watch party. Check out Discovery’s programming schedule and pick out the shows that look the best. ”Great White Highway” follows shark scientists in their effort to solve some of the more mysterious behaviors of the most well-known shark in the world. It’s also narrated by our board member Ted Danson! Check it out on Thursday, August 16th at 9 p.m.
2. Spend Shark Week with Oceana
We’re so excited about Shark Week that we’re going to be live-tweeting all the new shows! Follow along on our Twitter — we’ll be watching along with you and answering your shark questions. And look out for some fun Shark Week swag give-aways.
You can also share photos and stories with us via Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram.
3. Protect Sharks
For one week a year, over 30 million Americans are glued to their TV sets, transfixed by incredible stories of amazing, powerful sharks. But the true story is that they can’t save themselves from their top predator: us.
Right now there are only a few hundred adult great white sharks remaining of the U.S. West Coast. They are in danger of extinction, but you can help. Sign today to help great whites off the West Coast get listed under the Endangered Species Act.. [link to action page] You can also help spread the word through social media by signing up at Thunderclap.it/sharkweek.
Make sure that Shark Week isn’t the only time you care about sharks. They’re great to watch on TV, but we need them in the wild, too!
We Like La Mer, Do You?
Today beauty company La Mer is launching an exciting initiative to support Oceana, but we need your help to make it happen.
For every new 'like' on La Mer's Facebook page between now and World Oceans Day on June 8th, they will donate $5 to Oceana until they reach their goal of $30,000. What's not to like about that?
La Mer relies on sea kelp's restorative properties to make their skin products. The World Oceans Day campaign for 2012 emphasizes the future of ocean conservation. Marine life has a lot to offer that we haven’t discovered yet, so it’s important that we protect ocean habitats for future study.
Since 2005, La Mer has worked with Oceana to protect the world's oceans and the kelp forests that they use to make their products. They have created a special limited edition version of their famous creme to commemorate World Oceans Day, the proceeds from which will help our campaign to protect ocean habitats.
On their site you can check out an interactive presentation about the world’s oceans and some of our global initiatives.
Thanks, La Mer! We like you. (And all you readers should, too!)
Tuna-fy Yourself!
If you thought bluefin tuna were just another faceless fish, you thought wrong. Not only are they some of the fastest and most impressive predators in the ocean, they are also in serious trouble from overfishing.
In a few weeks, the world will have a chance to change bluefin’s fate, and we are asking you all to spread the word – by putting your face on this threatened fish. How, you ask? Well, our colleagues in Europe just launched a website, www.stoptunablues.org, where you can do just that.
From November 17-27th, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) will meet in Paris. ICCAT is an international body responsible for the conservation and management of bluefin, and Oceana will be in Paris to pressure the Commission to do more to protect bluefin.
Bluefin may not be as cuddly as panda bears, but you are – so help us save bluefin by offering your (incredibly attractive) likeness to the cause, and then spread the word on Facebook, Twitter, e-mail, and any other way you want!
Actress Sarah Shahi Wants to ‘Stop the Drill’
Actress Sarah Shahi is a rising star in Hollywood, and she also happens to be one of Oceana’s newest and most fervent celebrity supporters.
You might recognize Shahi from the Showtime series “The L Word,” where she played Carmen, a bilingual production assistant who moonlights as a DJ. She has also appeared in the films “Old School,” "For Your Consideration,” and on the TV shows "The Sopranos,” “Dawson’s Creek,” “Frasier” and “Alias.”
But when she’s not acting, she also plays the part of activist. This summer, she learned about our Stop the Drill campaign surrounding the Gulf oil spill and it struck a chord with her. On her Facebook and Twitter pages, she encouraged her supporters to take action with Oceana to stop offshore drilling. She changed her profile photo to a picture of herself holding a sign that read “Stop the Drill,” and she encouraged her supporters and friends to do the same.
Use Facebook to help protect kids from mercury in seafood
Be one of the first people to sign our new Facebook petition to protect kids from mercury in fish at Wal-Mart and Sam's Club!
And increase your impact and win prizes by inviting your friends to sign. The 3 people who recruit the most friends to sign by Monday, November 30 will win!
More About The Petition:
Oceana is asking Walmart and its subsidiary Sam's Club to post the Food and Drug Administration's mercury advice at their seafood displays.
While news stories about food recalls rip through the headlines at light speed, many families remain unaware of the ongoing risk of mercury in seafood. Because mercury can harm a young child or unborn baby's developing nervous system, the FDA has issued advice for women of child-bearing age and children to avoid or limit their consumption of certain fish that are contaminated with elevated levels of mercury.
