Readers of this blog will know that I have written and photographed extensively about Fiji’s sharks in the Shark Reef Marine Reserve. Coinciding with my return to Fiji just a few days ago, Beqa Adventure Divers has yet again created a great initiative which will bring the protection and conservation of sharks forward in this country.
The BAD team is now not only offering one of the (if not the) best shark dive in the world delivering education and exciting sharkdiving to guests, providing work for locals and boosting Fiji’s economy, they have now also come forward with a marriage between the dive centre, the United Nations Development Program UNDP and the South Pacific Tourism Organization SPTO. And what happens if these three outstanding parties marry? A great baby will be born: welcome MY FJIJ SHARK.
My Fiji Shark was created with three main goals:
Provide funds for shark research
Provide funds for better marine management
Provide funds for ongoing shark conservation
The whole idea is to offer the Fijian sharks for adoption – the revenues generated will then be reinvested in the three stated goals above. There are more than 200 named sharks on the Shark Reef Marine Reserve which you will now be able to adopt.
There are three different shark ranks (shark stars, shark superstars and shark icons) for the shark adoption, depending on the individual’s popularity and dynamics of interactions with the staff and guests alike (find a list of all of them here).
This is once again a great initiative of Mike and his team at Beqa Adventure Divers that I highly applaud! Their history has proven over and over that you can achieve a lot if you stay persistent and work towards a goal. After more than ten years of advocating, their efforts led to the creation of Fiji’s First National Marine Park in 2014: the Shark Reef Marine Reserve (read more about the story here).
Peekaboo – do you want to adopt me?
I haven’t adopted a shark yet but be assured I will – I want to have a few more dives with them and see which one approaches me the most. I guess in my case it’s how they say – they chose you and not the other way around 😉
[…] few days ago I finished my last project: a short film about the My Fiji Shark Initiative by Beqa Adventure Divers (BAD) with support from the United Nations Development Program […]
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