On World Oceans Day 08^th June 2012, Project AWARE mascots, Finn and Finley, will return to the Project AWARE office where their touring adventures started a year ago. MORE

The disturbing discovery by a Phuket News reader of the selling of endangered hammerhead sharks in Kata market has been exasperated by the shocking realisation that the practice is not ‘technically’ illegal.

Gwyn Mills, CEO of Pattaya-based environmental organisation Dive Tribe, explained that the laws in Thailand regarding fishing practices are murky at best.

“It largely depends on where they’ve been caught... There are harsher penalties if they’ve been caught in a National Park as opposed to open waters for example.”

Wavecrest Scuba, Newquay in the UK are fantastic supporters of Project AWARE. I catch up with IDC Staff Instructor and owner Mark Rayner to find out more.

Mark, out of the blue Project AWARE received an amazing £700 donation to support ocean protection. This is a great boost to our fundraising, thank you so much. Can you tell us a little more, how did this donation come about?

Environment officials from Costa Rica and Honduras on Thursday proposed protections for scalloped hammerhead sharks under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

“The time has come to regulate international trade of endangered hammerhead sharks,” said Ana Lorena Guevara, Costa Rica’s environment vice minister, while participating at a minister’s council of the Central American Commission on Environment and Development (CCAD) in Honduras from May 9-11.

All the staff and Board Members at Project AWARE were deeply saddened to hear the news on the weekend of the passing of one of our oceans' greatest heroes and ambassadors, Neville Coleman OAM (Medal of the Order of Australia). 

Based in Australia, Neville dedicated his life to underwater exploration and marine conservation. As an underwater naturalist he explored the world of water, discovering many new critters and species across the globe. His incredible career spans over 45 years of underwater exploration, photographing and documenting ocean life.

Many shark populations have plummeted in the past three decades as a result of excessive harvesting – for their fins, as an incidental catch of fisheries targeting other species, and in recreational fisheries. This is particularly true for oceanic species. However, until now, a lack of data prevented scientists from properly quantifying the status of Pacific reef sharks at a large geographic scale.