PURE - Save The Sharks
PURE, since its creation, has as a goal to increase the awareness of all divers (and the public in general) of the need of protection of the underwater environment. This has generally been achieved by the training of divers aware of the underwater world, and by offering diving services encouraging observation of and interaction with underwater life in the most respecuous way.
The use of rebreathers has always been very helpful in doing so, allowing us to make hundreds of divers discover the underwater wildlife in its natural and untouched habitat. The most thrilling encounters have often been the ones with sharks. The initial fear of this encounter quickly transforms into surprise. Sharks ignore us, even flee. It is then that the desire of trying to understand these ill-loved creatures really starts. And it is time. Every hour, 15.000 sharks are slaughtered worldwide, only for their fins. And this with almost no one really caring.
A few organisations fight for the protection of what is remaining of the shark population of the world, and PURE wishes to join actively, so since many years, PURE promotes some like Shark Project, Shark Alliance, Project AWARE and the Malpelo Foundation.
In 2009, a new step of action is taken, with 5 main actions :
- Information on this website concerning the evolution of shark protection around the world.
- Financial aids, and signature of petitions for the Protection of Sharks Worldwide.
- Creation of a Blue List of operators allowing the observation of sharks in their natural habitat with their natural behaviour, and the creation of a Red List of diving operators around the world using chumming, baiting or feeding of sharks for commercial purposes, which totally changes the behaviour of the sharks and which creates in the mind of the sharks a relationship "divers - food".
- Increasing shark awareness during our shark diving expeditions, and this in association with the different shark protection organisations.
- Creation of a PURE high-level training program for rebreather divers, including advanced rebreather diving techniques for buoyancy and hydrodynamism. This will be linked with topics about protection, respect and conservation of the underwater environment.