30/07/2013
Dear FB Friends. PLEASE support the Shark Research Institute's Annual Celebrity Auction to raise funds for the protection of our beloved sharks! Here are the details:
YOU SEE THEM ON SHARK WEEK – GET TO KNOW THEM IN PERSON
Some of the world’s top shark celebrities scientists, TV hosts, underwater photographers, filmmakers and conservationists are on the auction block at Bidding for Good during Discovery Channel’s Shark Week.
The aim of the auction is twofold: To spotlight individuals and organizations working effectively to protect sharks, and raise funds for field research and shark conservation programs.
Being auctioned is lunch or dinner with a shark celebrity. Bid on Dr. Sylvia Earle, the most eloquent spokesperson for ocean conservation and Explorer in Residence of the National Geographic Society;
or Dr. Leonard Compagno, author of the first-ever field guide to sharks: Sharks of the World’.
How about dinner with Chris and Monique Fallows of ‘Air Jaws’ fame, dive legend Gary Gentile, or Armand “Zig” Zigahn, founder of Beneath the Sea, the largest consumer dive and travel show in the USA? Thousands of divers have learned about sharks and the need for their conservation through Beneath the Sea!
Also being auctioned are Richard Stewart, ocean explorer, publisher and editor, photojournalist and television producer - the founder of SPORT DIVER MAGAZINE, OCEAN REALM and a dozen other industry magazine titles;
television hosts Jonathan and Christine Bird, Richard Weise host of ABC’s Born to Explore; filmmakers Nancy McGee, Joe Romeiro, and Jeff Kurr; conservationists from Mission Blue-Google Ocean, Ocean Geographic Society, Sea Save, Sea Stewards, SharkProtect, Shark Research Institute and other fine organizations; underwater photographers Matt Potenski, Amos Nachoum and Paul Spielvogel; artists Richard Ellis and Pascal Lecocq; scientists Dr. Gordon Hubbell, Dr. Jennifer Schmidt and Neil Hammerschlag; sculptor Victor Douieb; Jim Toomey, creator of the syndicated comic strip Sherman’s Lagoon; authors Paul Mila, Juliet Eilperin and Jessica Speart. These are just a few of the dozens of “shark celebs” to be auctioned. Each one of them has a wealth of expertise and stories to share with their highest bidder.
Although most of the ‘celebs’ are in the USA, some are in Australia, Canada, Germany, Honduras, South Africa and Hong Kong.
How it works: Bid on a shark expert or celebrity that lives or works nearby, unless you are willing to drive or fly to their location. The winning bidder pays for the celebrity's meal, and may bring guests.
Shark Research Institute will introduce each winning bidder to his or her shark celebrity. The two then set a mutually convenient date, time and place to get together within 365 days of the close of the auction.
The auction starts August 9, 2013 at 9 pm EST and runs for 10 days. The auction catalog is on the Shark Research Institute's home page at www.sharks.org, and will have a link to directly enter the auction when the auction goes live.
Shark Research Institute is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Winning bids are deductible as charitable contributions from US Federal 2013 income taxes.
Shark Research Institute (SRI), a multi-disciplinary non-profit 501(c)(3) scientific research organization, was created to sponsor and conduct research on sharks and promote the conservation of sharks.
