The Save Our Seas Foundation celebrates 20 years of shark science and conservation

The world was very different for sharks 20 years ago. The few charismatic species that caught our imagination were still suffering from poor PR: the movie Jaws was only the tip of the iceberg when it came to our misunderstanding. Global fisheries catches of sharks peaked in the year 2003, reaching an unsustainable summit. Support for shark conservation was not the worldwide priority it’s become today. In fact, you would have been hard pressed to find organisations willing to gamble on backing what have become the funding priorities of the Save Our Seas Foundation (SOSF): young researchers, projects in developing nations and research on the full diversity of sharks, rays, skates and chimaeras.

It was in this context that the fledgling SOSF was started. Its mission is to ensure sustainable oceans by providing financial, scientific and practical support for projects that focus on threatened marine species and their habitats. In 20 years, the SOSF has grown from funding a single patrol vessel for park rangers desperate to protect a marine reserve around Cocos Island to supporting over 480 projects in more than 90 countries. 

In the past two decades, scientists have learnt that there are 536 species of sharks (improving our knowledge from the 440 species that were listed in the field guide Sharks of the World in 2003). Policies to protect sharks have shifted: in 2003, the whale shark and basking shark were the first sharks regulated for trade by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Last year, 90% of the shark fin trade was brought under surveillance by increasing the species listed today to more than 140. A new species of manta ray was discovered in 2008, sawfish were prioritised in 2011 and this year researchers are investigating how epaulette sharks will respond to climate change and are searching for endangered wedgefish across West Africa.

The diversity of animals the SOSF supports has broadened greatly in 20 years and the Foundation has reached 258 species through its work. We still marvel at white, tiger and bull sharks, but focus more on the awe their complex lives merit than the sensationalism their stereotypes have suffered. In 2019, Professor Mahmood Shivji of the SOSF Shark Research Center at Nova Eastern University in Florida led a team that sequenced the first white shark genome. He and his colleagues have since sequenced genomes for great hammerhead and shortfin mako sharks, breakthroughs that show us how nuanced our conservation strategies must be to manage shark populations.

“There were key events in my life that opened my eyes to the real risk of extinction to sharks and rays,” says the Founder of the SOSF, His Excellency Abdulmohsen Abdulmalik Al-Sheikh. “And through meeting the people working to reverse these trends, I realised that our greatest chance for success lay in supporting their work. So, this year is a wonderful opportunity to reflect with pride on their achievements and the role that the Save Our Seas Foundation has played in helping to reach incredible policy milestones, scientific advances and real changes in the general perception of sharks.”

To commemorate its birth date on 23 September, the SOSF is hosting 20th anniversary in-person events throughout 2023 at its research and education centres in South Africa, Seychelles and the USA, as well as at its birthplace in Geneva, Switzerland. Project leaders will join the public in celebrating their love for the ocean. There are also incentives for young researchers to look with hope to the next 20 years of shark conservation, including the launch of the SOSF Conservation Fellowship, which will provide financial support to early-career individuals working on shark and ray projects in resource-limited countries.

Over the past 20 years, the SOSF has developed a strong storytelling legacy, fostered on the belief that when the wonders of sharks and the sea are shared, more people can find their place in protecting their ocean home. An exciting collaboration with the Sea Change Project and Oscar-winning director Pippa Ehrlich (My Octopus Teacher) sees the premiere of a stirring new film, Older Than Trees. The film is about hope for sharks and rays, charting the personal journey and research of shark scientist James Lea. Its story transports viewers around the world and through 20 years of the vital science that the SOSF has funded to protect sharks and rays.

Celebration event dates

Cape Town, South Africa: 3 May 2023

Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA: 7 September 2023

Geneva, Switzerland: 23 September 2023

Victoria, Seychelles: 13 October 2023