Update: 15 volunteers successfully swam around Pom Pom Island in memoriam of TRACC Founder Steve Oakley. Watch for our next swim in 2018, and help us keep fighting for sharks.
The fifth annual Swim for Sharks started across the globe in Malaysian Borneo. This awareness and fundraising swim rounded Pom Pom Island, to help raise funds to rebuild the boat for the Tropical Research and Conservation Centre (TRACC) research and conservation lab.
As the director of Shark Stewards, I have been working in Borneo for 5 years and am amazed at the beauty and the diversity of wildlife, and the concern of local people to protect it. With our Malaysian partners we have helped document the beauty and the darkside on the Borneo From Below and Frontier Borneo series. This area of high endemism is at risk to poaching, blast fishing and the shark fin trade.
Help Shark Stewards support the Tropical Research and Conservation Centre (TRACC) in our work saving sharks and restoring damaged coral reefs. We are actively protecting sharks in the coral triangle and have been working with TRACC since 2015 actively assessing and restoring blasted reefs.
Funding raised through this crowdrise will repair the Wahoo- the core support vessel needed for transport and diving on Pom Pom Island, site of the TRACC field station, and restoration/shark rescue project.
Will you fund a swimmer during shark week so TRACC can continue the conservation work?
As one of the founding members of the Sabah Shark Protection Association, we are working with TRACC and other local partners in Malaysia passing laws to protect sharks from overfishing and the shark fin trade.
As the 3rd largest shark fin importer and a major consumer, Malaysia is a critical place in the world to save sharks. Your support provides a nucleus for shark and coral conservation at Pom Pom Island that serves as the model for other islands in the region.
In 2016 we participated in a shark reintroduction on the reef, tagging and releasing seven sharks on the island (and documented by Discovery Channel feature of Wild Borneo.) Another episode documents the work in restoration caused by blast fishing, a destructive fishing practice Shark Stewards is working to stop locally and internationally at the United Nations.
Funding will support critical infrastructure at the field station for international and local community volunteers to help maintain and help expand the TRACC house reef providing critical habitat for sharks, fish, sea turtles and other species. Your donations will go to boat repair, reef building materials, and camp improvement.
Already a sea turtle sanctuary, we are helping make this a shark sanctuary by providing education and ecotourism support to protect the reef and wildlife. Alternative livelihoods to local people as dive masters, boat operators, camp maintain and cook staff are helping maintain protection and ensure long term success.
This swim is dedicated to the late Dr. Steve Oakley, founder of TRACC and the Pom Pom research/ teaching station. We are helping to keep Steve’s vision alive to restore reefs and save sharks in Semporna through grants, fundraising and active restoration and research at Pom Pom each summer. Support and follow on Facebook, twitter and instagram Director David McGuire and volunteers in our first annual swim around Pom Pom Island, and help Steve’s vision endure
Sponsor a swimmer, save a sea turtle shark and reef, and share for shark week!
Thank you for supporting this important local shark and reef conservation effort.
Learn more at https://sharkstewards.org/borneo-shark-media/