Marine Life & Conservation
Ocean Conservation Trust launch #ThinkOcean Challenge
How can your personality help save the Ocean?
To coincide with the school summer holidays, the Ocean Conservation Trust (OCT) has launched its #ThinkOcean Challenge. The results of a fun eight-question quiz will reveal how people understand and view the Ocean. Personality categories include: Head, Heart, Hands or New Starter.
By understanding how someone thinks and feels about the Ocean, the Ocean Conservation Trust then offers optimistic actions that are specific to the different personality types, offering inspiration to people to connect with the Ocean and suggesting ways to protect it.
The #Thinkocean Challenge is a fun way to help people understand how their personality type can lead to important pro-Ocean behaviours. Each pro-Ocean habit that is recommended can be carried out during day-to-day life and directly benefits the Ocean.
OCT’s Head of Conservation Education and Communications, Nicola Bridge says: “Learning how someone interacts with and thinks about the Ocean is crucially important in understanding how that individual can get involved in Ocean conservation. The #ThinkOcean challenge targets young people’s strengths and encourages them to use their natural abilities for good.”
Head
If results suggest someone uses their head to engage with the Ocean, this means they naturally enjoy learning and discovering new things and can use this skill to recognise that the threats to the Ocean will also impact themselves.
Suggested pro-Ocean actions: Signing petitions or researching who to bank or buy with.
Heart
For those who think with their Heart, these people love the Ocean, visit it when they can and understand nature’s restorative benefits.
Suggested pro-Ocean actions: Thinking about diet and reducing meat as well as rewilding a green space.
Hands
If results show someone ‘thinks Ocean’ with their Hands, this means they tend to enjoy Ocean activities and use it as a creative space. This group visits the Ocean to have fun and feels they have a responsibility to protect it.
Suggested pro-Ocean actions: Volunteering or raising money for charity.
New Starter
If a person is new to Ocean conservation, they are deemed a New Starter and the Ocean Conservation Trust will help them develop throughout their #thinkOcean journey.
Suggested pro-Ocean actions: Visiting the Ocean or reducing plastic packaging.
OCT’s Head of Conservation Education and Communications, Nicola Bridge continues: “If we want to protect our Ocean, we need to start with people. So, we’re trying to find out how different people think and feel about the ocean through our #Thinkocean Challenge. By doing so we can engage with as many people as possible with ocean optimistic action to have a positive impact on the future of our Ocean.”
Alongside inspiring young people, the OCT will also be using the Challenge’s results to curate their pro-Ocean behaviour programmes for the next decade.
To take part in the #thinkOcean Challenge please click here.
After a two-year tour of UK art galleries, community spaces and aquariums, the Shark Trust’s acclaimed Oceanic31 exhibition takes its final bow at the Royal Geographical Society later this month. And the unique collection of artwork, depicting 31 species of oceanic sharks and rays, donated by 31 artists, is now open for bids from art lovers and shark enthusiasts. The online auction, launched today, will close on the 7th December at 8pm (BST). The money raised will support the Shark Trust Oceanics Programme.
People can now bid on 27 of the artworks by visiting this website:
https://superstars-auctions.com/sharktrustauction
It is a chance to own a beautiful piece of original art and to support the Shark Trust. The timing of the auction also means that these would make a very special Christmas gift for any shark-lover.
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- Bigeye Thresher Shark by Janina Rossiter
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- Carcharodon carcharias by Jimmy Higgs
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- Croc VR 2030 by Tom Mead
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- Oceanic Whitetip by ATM
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- Silky Street by ScapaJoe
The diversity of pieces mirrors that of the sharks and rays they represent. You can bid on paintings, digital creations, sculptures, mixed media and more. You can pick your favourite artist or species of shark. Or you can select the perfect artwork to make a statement in your home or office. Whichever you choose, you will be supporting the work to protect these amazing animals.
One of the pieces of art has been selected to be auctioned live by Steve Backshall at the For the Love of Sharks event at the Royal Geographical Society in London on the 29th November. In addition to this, two further pieces will be raffled at this event, giving people a chance to win an incredible piece of shark art. For the Love of Sharks is the Shark Trust’s flagship evening. A night to celebrate sharks. Steve Backshall is the headline speaker at this event that will see other prominent shark advocates join him on stage.
Tickets for the event can be snapped up here:
https://thesharktrust.org.uk/Event/flos24
Those that would like to see the Oceanic 31 exhibition have one final chance. It is being displayed at the Pavilion at the Royal Geographic Society from 26th November until the 7th December. Entry is free.
Find out more here:
https://www.rgs.org/events/upcoming-events/oceanic-31
Paul Cox, Shark Trust CEO, Said “This exhibition has given us the opportunity to reach out to a new audience. And inspire more people with the wonderful sharks and rays on which our Big Shark Pledge campaign is based. We are immensely grateful to the 31 artists who have worked so hard to create these works.”
Bid for your favourite Oceanic 31 artwork here:
https://superstars-auctions.com/sharktrustauction
Banner Image: Smooth Hammerhead by Alicia Hayden
Until 28 November, prizes worth a massive £10,000 – including experiences, products and tuition – feature in a line-up of items that can be won for £5 in an online prize draw to celebrate Bite-Back Shark & Marine Conservation’s 20th anniversary and help generate crucial funds for the future.
Top of the list of prizes is the chance to spend time with adventurer and wildlife expert Steve Backshall, a workout session with Nat Geo star Aldo Kane, a kayaking trip alongside white-water expert and diver Sal Montgomery and a Zoom call with ‘shark whisperer’ Cristina Zenato.
On top of that, some of the most admired companies in the diving and scuba industry have been quick to support the charity with fabulous prizes that make the £5 ticket price worth more than just a flutter.
Master Liveaboards, BSAC, Midlands Diving Chamber, Go Freediving and Blue Shark Snorkel have all generously donated experience prizes, while celebrated photographer Alex Mustard has donated a print and artists Scott Gleed and Olivier Leger have donated a sculpture and illustration to help boost the fundraising pot.
Fourth Element has donated Ocean Positive gear and LA watch company Nodus has gifted the charity a stunning dive watch. For land lovers, the charity has included a five star London hotel stay at Bankside Hotel plus a family visit to Longleat Safari Park in the roster of prizes.
Campaign director for Bite-Back, Graham Buckingham, said: “We’ve been overwhelmed with support from companies and individuals that we truly admire and who have supported us on our 20 year journey and we’re truly grateful to them all. While we feel incredibly proud of our achievements over the past two decades – and we are super excited about the next chapter – this prize draw isn’t a vanity project. It represents a real lifeline to our work and important advancements in the global protection of sharks. So we hope divers, dive clubs and even bargain hunters grab some tickets to make this a massive success.”
The charity hopes that the prize draw will generate crucial funds to launch a brand new, ground-breaking, campaign to enrol the public and increase support for the protection of sharks around the world.
To enter the competition visit www.bite-back.com/prizedraw. The prize winners will be announced on 1 December 2024.
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