Photo by Kaylam-Pratt on a TIRN Cocos Island Expedition trip.
For Immediate Release, July 23, 2025
Contact: Todd Steiner, Founder & Special Projects, TSteiner@seaturtles.org
This Shark Week, Turtle Island Restoration Network Calls for Action to Protect the Ocean’s True Stars: As Shark Populations Plummet Worldwide, Advocates Urge Costa Rica to Protect Critical Migration Corridor
UNITED STATES – As millions of viewers celebrate the awe and mystery of sharks during Discovery Channel’s iconic summer series, Shark Week, Turtle Island Restoration Network (TIRN) — a leading ocean and watershed conservation nonprofit — is calling on the global citizens and policymakers alike to take meaningful action to protect these magnificent predators before it’s too late.
Every year, more than 100 million sharks are killed in commercial fisheries*, driving many endangered species — like scalloped hammerhead sharks, whale sharks, silky sharks, and tiger sharks — toward extinction. Yet these same species keep entire marine ecosystems healthy by maintaining the balance of ocean food webs.
“The public’s understanding of the ecologically important role sharks play in maintaining healthy oceans has grown tremendously in recent years, but this has not yet translated to a decrease in fishing mortality. While shark finning is down, shark meat consumption is up according to a recent study*. This Shark Week, we urge everyone who loves these animals on screen to take real-world action to protect them in the wild.” said Todd Steiner, ecologist and founder of the international environmental organization, Turtle Island Restoration Network.
Many shark species are highly migratory and travel outside the territorial waters of any single nation. One of the most urgent opportunities for action to protect sharks is the completion of the Cocos–Galápagos Swimway, a proposed marine protected migration corridor linking Ecuador’s Galápagos Islands with Costa Rica’s Cocos Island National Park. This 396-mile underwater “blue highway” is a lifeline for countless charismatic marine species, including hammerheads, whale sharks, tiger sharks and silky sharks that travel between these UNESCO World Heritage sites.
While Ecuador has protected its portion of the Swimway with a no-take marine reserve, Costa Rica has yet to secure its share, leaving migrating sharks vulnerable to industrial fishing and illegal poaching as they travel the open ocean.
“The science is clear: protecting small islands alone isn’t enough for highly migratory species… If we want to keep seeing hammerheads and whales sharks on our screens, and in our oceans, we need bold action now to protect their entire migratory routes,” Steiner concluded.
Turtle Island Restoration Network has championed this ‘swimway’ approach for decades. Early campaigns in the Gulf of Mexico helped safeguard migration routes for the critically endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle, aiding the species’ recovery. Now, the same proven strategy can protect some of the ocean’s most perfectly evolved predators… the real stars of Shark Week.
How Anyone Can Help Conservation This Shark Week:
- Individuals use their voices here
- Scientists sign on in support here
- Organizations join the coalition here
For more information on the Cocos-Galapagos Swimway campaign and to take action with us, visit www.seaturtles.org/the-cocos-galapagos-swimway. Access media for a Cocos-Galapagos press story here.
Turtle Island Restoration Network is a global ocean conservation nonprofit with offices in California and Texas, whose mission is to inspire and mobilize people around the world to protect marine biodiversity, the oceans and watersheds that sustain all life on Earth.
