Origins of the Florida Campaign

shark tank meets shark week

Although Shark Allies and our Executive Director, Stefanie Brendl, have been behind many successful state laws to end the shark fin trade, the Florida campaign all started with a little known television phenomenon called Shark Week on Discovery Channel. In the summer (2018), Shark Week celebrated their 30th year on the air and opted for conservation-minded programming given the status of shark populations around the world. We were lucky enough to be featured in the Shark Week and Shark Tank collaboration, “Shark Tank Meets Shark Week.” If you haven’t watched already, or want to watch again, click the buttons below.

On the special, four shark conservation centric groups pitched their causes to one fo the “Sharks” of “Shark Tank” in hopes of winning the $50K prize. Although we didn’t win the prize, we feel that our issue got the exposure it needed to jump start the beginning of the Florida campaign. Since “Shark Tank Meets Shark Week” aired we have been gunning it forward, full speed, to end the shark fin trade in Florida. We knew that Florida would be no easy feat from the get-go. Two bills were introduced in the Florida State Legislature, one in the House and one in the Senate. Click here to learn more about the campaign, support it, donate or volunteer.

Thank you Discovery Channel for including us in the episode and shedding a big spotlight on shark conservation causes. Thank you Mark Cuban for your generous investment. We couldn't have asked for a better Top Shark to pitch Shark Allies. Even though we didn't win, we feel that we have won "big time". 

To read more, follow the press links here: The Wrap, Entertainment Weekly - People Magazine Mark Cuban exclusive - People Magazine Shark Tank Meets Shark Week exclusive - Inc. - CNBC. To watch the full episode, you can watch on YouTube or on iTunes.