Lewis Pugh Martha's Vineyard swim for sharks
Timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the film Jaws, endurance swimmer Lewis Pugh has swum around Martha's Vineyard to raise awareness of the slaughter of sharks worldwide and its devastating effect on ocean ecosystems
Seas with no sharks are becoming a very real possibility and that's something we must avoid at all costs, says swimmer and campaigner for healthy seas Lewis Pugh. The loss of sharks means ecological collapse with devastating consequences for ocean health and global food security. Pugh's swim around Martha's Vineyard took place in May. See the Lewis Pugh foundation website.
'I’m frightened of sharks,' Pugh readily admits. 'But I’m more terrified of a world without them, and that’s what we’re looking at if we don’t act now. Without sharks to keep them in balance, marine ecosystems are unravelling at frightening speed. We need a new narrative about these magnificent animals because the one we’ve been hearing for the past 50 years threatens our oceans.'
Since 1970, shark populations have plummeted by approximately 70 per cent worldwide through over-fishing and habitat destruction, the Lewis Pugh Foundation says. Each year, an estimated 100 million sharks are killed — that’s 274,000 every day — for their fins, meat, oil, and sport. The result isn’t just species loss; it’s ecological collapse, with devastating consequences.
'Sharks are integral to ocean health, and ocean health is integral to human survival,' Pugh says. 'This is not just about future generations. We must learn to respect and protect sharks today, and this is my key message.'
Over the past few decades Great White Shark numbers have recovered around Martha’s Vineyard thanks to conservation efforts. In addition, Pugh says, Massachusetts, to its credit, has recently taken efforts to protect great whites from on-shore fishing. But this is not the case worldwide, where Great White Sharks are under increased threat.
As an endurance swimmer Pugh, 55, is unparalleled. He has swum in some of the most vulnerable ecosystems on earth to campaign for their protection. Most recently, in 2023, he swam the 315-mile (507km) Hudson River to praise its clean-up and highlight how rivers affect ocean health. The Shark Swim launches a three-year campaign by the Lewis Pugh Foundation to engage over one billion people with science, education, and acts of advocacy. It's a central thrust of LPF’s 30x30 initiative: to fully protect 30 per cent of our oceans by 2030.
'When we damage the environment, we create conditions ripe for conflict,' Pugh says 'but when we protect the environment, we foster peace. For centuries we have not only been fighting over the environment, we have been fighting against it. We must learn to make peace with nature for the sake of future generations.'
“Migratory species like large sharks are nature’s messengers – they reveal the health of our oceans and, by extension, our planet,' says Inger Andersen, executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme. 'Their decline is a clear signal we are pushing marine ecosystems to the brink. We need ambitious action to protect all marine biodiversity – and we need it now.'
