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January Jones and Oceana are still
Scared For Sharks
Photos by:
Tim Calver
Emmy Award
Nominated actress returns for her second Oceana Public
Service Announcement
Washington,
DC, May 9, 2011
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Today Oceana announced its second 'Scared for Sharks' public
service announcement (PSA) starring actress January Jones.
The campaign co-stars the world's biggest fish 'the whale
shark' and Jones swimming together in Belize's
Gladden Spit Marine Reserve.
Jones, who
is best known for her roles in AMC's critically acclaimed
series 'Mad Men', the blockbuster thriller 'Unknown' and her
upcoming turn in 'X-Men: First Class', is quickly becoming
a seasoned veteran when it comes to swimming with sharks. In
2009, 'she filmed the first 'Scared for Sharks' PSA while
swimming with Caribbean reef sharks at the Bimini Biological
Field Station in the Bahamas.
" Sharks
are amazing animals and most, like whale sharks, are not
interested in us," Jones said. "Sharks play a critical role
in our oceans as top predators. Without them, things go out
of balance. Tens of millions of sharks are caught, mostly
for their fins, every year. So it's silly to be scared of
them. We should be scared for them."
Also in
2009, Jones took the issue of shark finning to Capitol Hill
where she met with members of Congress to urge the passing
of the Shark Conservation Act. In December 2010, the U.S.
Congress passed the Shark Conservation Act, strengthening
and ensuring a shark finning prohibition in U.S.
waters.
" January
has an extraordinary passion for sharks and her partnership
with Oceana has been invaluable," said Oceana Chief
Executive Officer Andrew Sharpless. "Having a person of her
visibility take up this issue has helped Oceana to get
policies in place in the
US that curtail the wasteful and
unsustainable practice of shark finning."
The
practice of shark finning is largely responsible for the
decline in shark populations worldwide. Each year, tens of
millions of sharks are taken from the oceans solely for
their fins. The Shark Conservation Act requires that sharks
caught in U.S. waters be
landed with their fins attached.
"While
the U.S. has strong
protections against shark finning in its waters, the
practice remains unchecked throughout much of the world,"
said Oceana marine scientist Elizabeth Griffin. "We know
that our oceans need sharks, yet we're fishing many species
to the brink of extinction."
January's
new video PSA and information on Oceana's work to protect
sharks can be seen at
www.oceana.org/scaredforsharks.
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Oceana is the largest
international advocacy group working solely to protect the
world's oceans. Oceana wins policy victories for the oceans
using science-based campaigns. Since 2001, we have protected
over 1.2 million square miles of ocean and innumerable sea
turtles, sharks, dolphins and other sea creatures. More than
500,000 supporters have already joined Oceana. Global in
scope, Oceana has offices in North, South and Central
America and Europe. To learn
more, please visit
www.oceana.org.
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