June 14, 2013
Meet the Faces of the Ocean Hero Junior Awards!
BY: Sarah Williamson
The Shark Finatics were the 2010 Ocean Hero Awards Junior Winners!
Since winning the Ocean Hero Award in 2010, the Shark Finatics have expanded their conservation work beyond their original shark adoption efforts.
This past fall, they participated in Asher Jay’s “creative diaspora,” when plastic bottles they decorated and filled with important ocean conservation messages were featured in the Washington, DC, exhibit of “Sea Speak Sphere.”
Eddie – Love in the sea, the way it should be!
Victor – Sharks are the guardians of our oceans, Keep them safe!
Terry – Feel the beauty of the ocean.
Christian – With our help, there is hope for a brighter future for our sharks.
Alex – less pollution = cleaner oceans
Less than a month after their art exhibit opened, Super Storm Sandy smashed into the East Coast. When the Finatics found out that the New York Aquarium had been damaged, they decided to help out their fellow ocean-lovers by donating $300, collected by selling Shark Finatics memorabilia at their school’s Country Store, to the restoration effort.
Only one of the original Junior Ocean Hero Award winners is still at the Green Chimneys school and a member of the group, but teacher Robin Culler and her ever-growing team of dedicated ocean conservationists continue to spread the word about the perils of shark finning through school events, like the Human-Animal Interaction Conference and Birds of Prey Day.
Do you know any “juniors” who have turned their classroom passion into a real world project? Have you? Nominate your Ocean Hero today!