New World Record OW Swim

As an open water swimmer training, racing, and coaching swimming to raise awareness for shark conservation this goes totally against the grain of my entire awareness project. From a support team of this calibre I would expect far more than during an open water marathon swim where the swimmer cannot exit the water allow a local fisherman to bait sharks, lure and hook them, and kill them with a machete (I spoke with a person who directly witnessed this taking place) in turn putting more bait in the water and further exciting and attracting any more sharks in the area. The species caught and killed were Oceanic Whitetips (Carcharhinus longimanus) they are on the IUCN Red List as Vulnerable world-wide, however their numbers are so low now in the Western Atlantic and Caribbean basin (where this swim took place) that they are listed as Critically-Endangered. There is currently an Oceanic Whitetip tagging study being conducted on Grand Cayman, fortunately none of the tagged sharks were caught - how would that have looked if a tagged, tracked, and studied animal had been killed? Fortunately all the sharks in the study are still alive and swimming in the ocean tracked via GPS. If the sharks had wanted to eat the swimmer they had ample time during the 40+ hour swim. They didn't, because they don't. It is 2011, 36 years past JAWS - we all should know by now that sharks do not eat people. Sharks are in reality a rapidly dwindling top predator in our already threatened oceans, their numbers are pushed to the absolute limits with populations down 90% and many are in danger of extinction, including the Great White. As ocean swimmers we enter their home willingly, and they deserve our utmost respect. Nothing less, and certainly not to be senselessly and ignorantly killed in the incorrect belief that we are 'protecting' a swimmer. The media is reporting that this swimmer braved sharks; actually the sharks braved humans, and yet again did not fair well. There are groups of dedicated people and non-profit organizations like Shark Savers (who I volunteer for and donate a percentage of my proceeds from coaching swimming) working hard to have Oceanic Whitetips (and other slow-maturing endangered species; Great Hammerhead, Bull, Tiger) rightfully protected by international law, this unfortunate incident has an upside as it is a further push to now double our efforts in getting protection for the Oceanic Whitetip in Cayman waters. In the very near future the actions by this team on these sharks will be illegal, and carry a heavy fine. I do not think very highly of people who also defend and condone these soon to be criminal actions. I saw Rob Stewart, director of SHARKWATER speak to a sold-out, standing ovation crowd just this week. As apex animals in our planet's largest ecosystem sharks are THE most important species on Earth. STOP KILLING SHARKS. From the tens of millions slaughtered for their fins for the Asian shark fin soup demand, to the 3 wastefully "disposed of" by "heroic actions" on this swim. With the help of some awesome sponsors and supporters of my SWIMMING FAST - FOR THE SHARKS! project I am working to soon do a swim in the Cayman Islands - "Fastest Bridging of Cayman Brac to Little Cayman - For the Sharks!" I do fully congratulate Penny Palfrey on her record-breaking swim. I followed the swim closely right until her edge-of-your-seat finish, admire her incredible record-setting feat, and she is nothing short of an inspiration to us all. FINS UP! Todd

As an open water swimmer training, racing, and coaching swimming to raise awareness for shark conservation this goes totally against the grain of my entire awareness project. From a support team of this calibre I would expect far more than during an open water marathon swim where the swimmer cannot exit the water allow a local fisherman to bait sharks, lure and hook them, and kill them with a machete (I spoke with a person who directly witnessed this taking place) in turn putting more bait in the water and further exciting and attracting any more sharks in the area. The species caught and killed were Oceanic Whitetips (Carcharhinus longimanus) they are on the IUCN Red List as Vulnerable world-wide, however their numbers are so low now in the Western Atlantic and Caribbean basin (where this swim took place) that they are listed as Critically-Endangered. There is currently an Oceanic Whitetip tagging study being conducted on Grand Cayman, fortunately none of the tagged sharks were caught - how would that have looked if a tagged, tracked, and studied animal had been killed? Fortunately all the sharks in the study are still alive and swimming in the ocean tracked via GPS. If the sharks had wanted to eat the swimmer they had ample time during the 40+ hour swim. They didn't, because they don't. It is 2011, 36 years past JAWS - we all should know by now that sharks do not eat people. Sharks are in reality a rapidly dwindling top predator in our already threatened oceans, their numbers are pushed to the absolute limits with populations down 90% and many are in danger of extinction, including the Great White. As ocean swimmers we enter their home willingly, and they deserve our utmost respect. Nothing less, and certainly not to be senselessly and ignorantly killed in the incorrect belief that we are 'protecting' a swimmer. The media is reporting that this swimmer braved sharks; actually the sharks braved humans, and yet again did not fair well. There are groups of dedicated people and non-profit organizations like Shark Savers (who I volunteer for and donate a percentage of my proceeds from coaching swimming) working hard to have Oceanic Whitetips (and other slow-maturing endangered species; Great Hammerhead, Bull, Tiger) rightfully protected by international law, this unfortunate incident has an upside as it is a further push to now double our efforts in getting protection for the Oceanic Whitetip in Cayman waters. In the very near future the actions by this team on these sharks will be illegal, and carry a heavy fine. I do not think very highly of people who also defend and condone these soon to be criminal actions. I saw Rob Stewart, director of SHARKWATER speak to a sold-out, standing ovation crowd just this week. As apex animals in our planet's largest ecosystem sharks are THE most important species on Earth. STOP KILLING SHARKS. From the tens of millions slaughtered for their fins for the Asian shark fin soup demand, to the 3 wastefully "disposed of" by "heroic actions" on this swim. With the help of some awesome sponsors and supporters of my SWIMMING FAST - FOR THE SHARKS! project I am working to soon do a swim in the Cayman Islands - "Fastest Bridging of Cayman Brac to Little Cayman - For the Sharks!" I do fully congratulate Penny Palfrey on her record-breaking swim. I followed the swim closely right until her edge-of-your-seat finish, admire her incredible record-setting feat, and she is nothing short of an inspiration to us all. FINS UP! Todd