World of Sharks Save Our Seas Foundation

We're learning new things about the ocean every day, but for centuries the ocean has taught us so much more. After the pandemic, many of us evaluated our connection to the sea and nature in general, seeking deeper meaning in our relationship with it and realising how necessary it is for our mental and emotional wellbeing. Award-winning film-maker and conservation storyteller Pippa Ehrlich (My Octopus Teacher, Older Than Trees) is passionate about telling stories of human-nature connection. For years, she has worked with scientists around the world, using storytelling to capture their passion and emotion for marine life and inspire others to feel the same. In this episode, we talk about Pippa's approach to storytelling and the story behind the Oscar winning documentary, My Octopus Teacher. We also discuss Pippa's love for the ocean, exploring the beautiful kelp forests of the Cape peninsula, and how she stays connected to nature - even when life gets in the way. And, we talk about her new film Older Than Trees, which celebrates 20 years of the Save Our Seas Foundation. 
You can follow Pippa on social media: @the_rewilding (instagram) and @PippaEhrlich (twitter). You can also find out more about her current work for the Sea Change Project, an organisation aiming to spread awareness of the Great African Seaforest through storytelling and immersion: https://seachangeproject.com/. 
You can find out more about us by heading to www.saveourseas.com, or following us on social media: @saveourseasfoundation (instagram) and @SaveOurSeas (twitter). 
You can find the shownotes for this episode here: https://saveourseas.com/worldofsharks/podcast
 

This week on World of Sharks we are diving into the world of an iconic species: the blue shark, Prionace glauca. Known for their big eyes, pointed snouts, mesmerising metallic blue colour and inquisitive nature, blue sharks are a species of requiem shark that occur in temperate and tropical oceans around the world. We are joined by Dr Jenny Bortoluzzi, shark scientist and SOSF project leader, who studied this species in Irish waters for her PhD and tried to understand why they came to the area in such large numbers, and discovered some quite surprising things about their eating habits…
Digressions include some very friendly sunfish, travel-happy porbeagles, and why on earth a shark would choose to eat jellyfish.
Time stamps: Jenny's life and career [6.30-20.10], blue sharks and Jenny's research [20.20 - 45.00], porbeagle tagging [45.30-49.50], conservation implications [50.00]. 
You can follow Jenny's work by heading to her website (https://jennybortoluzzi.wordpress.com/) or following her on social media (@DrSharkyJenny). 
You can find out more about the Save Our Seas Foundation by heading to www.saveourseas.com. 

In this episode of World of Sharks by the Save Our Seas Foundation, we're chatting all things spurdog, relatedness and genetics with molecular biologist and PhD student Fenella Wood! Fenella's research delves into the fascinating world of spurdog population genetics to find out if the individuals that form large aggregations are related, which could have conservation implications if they are caught as by-catch. We learn all about shark DNA, life at sea, and what it was like to work at the legendary Bimini Field Station, AKA Shark Lab.
You can follow Fenella on twitter, she is @Fenella_Wood. 
And you can follow our work on instagram (@saveourseasfoundation) and twitter (@aaveourseas). 

So, you want to study sharks. You have a brilliant research question, a solid methodology, and buckets of passion. There's just one thing missing...funding. Applying for grants to support your research is a huge part of the scientific process - and it's certainly not easy. But fear not! This week, we are taking a break from chatting about sharks to bring you some expert tips on how to get your dream project funded, from three people who definitely know their stuff when it comes to grant applications. Dr James Lea, CEO of the Save Our Seas Foundation, Lee Crockett, executive director of the Shark Conservation Fund and Sarah Fowler OBE, scientific advisor to both organisations, have tonnes of experience both as reviewers and applicants. Every year, they sift through hundreds of proposals and know exactly what sets an application apart from the rest. In this episode we talk about growing your idea into a realistic, achievable project and what funders are looking for in a successful applicant. And, we discuss what to do if you get rejected - which is a hard, but very normal, part of the process. 
Applications for the Save Our Seas Foundation small grants are open NOW until June 16th 2023. Find out more here: https://saveourseas.com/grants/funding-applications/
You can also find out about opportunities with the Shark Conservation Fund here: https://www.sharkconservationfund.org/

Sharks and ray populations across the world are in freefall. Reversing these declines requires a coordinated, global effort - but how can this be achieved? At the International Marine Protected Areas Congress (IMPAC5) in Vancouver, Canada, host Isla sat down with Rima Jabado, fisheries scientist and head of the IUCN Shark Specialist Group, and elasmobranch scientists Emiliano García Rodríguez and Ciaran Hyde to talk about Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRAs). Lead by a growing international team of scientists, policy-makers and practitioners, the ISRAs project aims to put sharks on the map - collating information on areas around the world that serve a vital function for sharks and rays, and making this information freely available to help decision-makers and managers build better, informed protective measures for sharks and rays around the world.
You can find out more about ISRAs here: https://sharkrayareas.org/ and by following @SharkRayAreas. 
You can find out more about us over at www.saveourseas.com, or by following @SaveOurSeas (twitter) and @saveourseasfoundation (instagram). 
 

We are kicking off season 4 of the World of Sharks podcast (formerly the Whole Tooth podcast) with a bang! This episode, we are talking to legendary conservation photographer, National Geographic explorer and our very own Director of Storytelling, Thomas Peschak. Thomas has photographed marine life all over the world, including a huge diversity of sharks and rays, and has dedicated his life to creating images that have real world impact for conservation. We asked Thomas about going on assignment for Nat Geo, his process – from finding the perfect story to crafting an affecting photograph – and what makes an image stand out from the crowd. And, of course, we spent quite a bit of time discussing our favourite group of animals, and what it’s like to work with them in the field.
You can find out more about his work here, https://www.thomaspeschak.com/ or follow Tom on social media via @thomaspeschak.