Freediving with Sharks

IN HAWAII

We were recently back on the North Shore of Hawaii for a while with some of the Akin Creative Team. 

We had the incredible opportunity to go free diving with the locals. The locals with the dorsal fins - that is. 

Setting out from Haleiwa, we rode about 3 miles out to sea. Admittedly, there were a lot of nerves when we first saw the sharks circling the boat. It seemed a crazy thought to think we were about to be getting in the water with them, without a cage. 

But having swum previously with dolphins and sea turtles many times this was as tranquil as experience as ever the ocean, if not more so. 

The sharks were graceful, peaceful and calm. They were beautiful and majestic. The deep blue hues of the ocean surrounding us was a thing of beauty all in itself.

Even one minute in the ocean with these beautiful creatures completely changes your mindset about them. 

Sadly, hundreds of millions of sharks are killed annually for completely unnecessary reasons, such as shark soup.

Sharks actually play a super vital role in our ecosystems, they are a keystone species! They clean up the ocean by regulating prey populations and eating the dead, dying and weak animals. 

A HEALTHY SHARK POPULATION = A HEALTHY OCEAN.

If you would like to help protect them here are some ways you could start out:

• Don't buy shark teeth, especially if they are white. It is most likely that they came from a shark that was harvested

• Don't eat or go to a restaurant that sells shark fin soup

• Avoid cosmetics that have squalene/squalane, which is a compound derived from shark liver oil

• Get involved with organizations that support the protection of sharks and the ban on shark finning

You protect the things you love. We have always loved the ocean, it has played a huge part in everything we do with Akin since day one and learning more about sharks by experiencing them first hand has inspired us to help do what we can to protect them too.