Photo credit: Lewis Pugh Foundation
Fifty years after the blockbuster film “Jaws” turned sharks into the world’s most feared underwater villains, celebrated endurance swimmer and United Nations Environment Programme Patron of the Oceans Lewis Pugh will seek to rewrite the narrative on sharks for a new generation.
From May 15–26, 2025, Pugh will swim the 60-mile (96 km) circumference of Martha’s Vineyard — the same waters that terrified millions — to raise awareness about the slaughter of sharks worldwide and its effect on ocean ecosystems.
Although ocean swimming carries inherent risks, Pugh’s team will take precautions to reduce encounters with sharks.
“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 unraveling 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% worldwide through overfishing and habitat destruction, the Lewis Pugh Foundation noted. Each year, an estimated 100 million sharks are killed — that’s 274,000 every single day — for their fins, meat, oil, and sport. The result isn’t just species loss; it’s ecological collapse, with devastating consequences for ocean health and global food security.
“Sharks are integral to ocean health, and ocean health is integral to human survival,” Pugh continued. “This is not just about future generations. We must learn to respect and protect sharks today, and this will be 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 white sharks from on-shore fishing. But this is not the case worldwide, where Great White Sharks are under increased threat.
As an endurance swimmer Pugh is unparalleled. He has pioneered swims 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% of our oceans by 2030.
“When we damage the environment, we create conditions that are 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,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme. “Their decline is a clear signal that we are pushing marine ecosystems to the brink. We need ambitious action to protect all marine biodiversity – and we need it now.”
“As a lifelong surfer and conservationist, I’ve seen firsthand how the ocean supports our communities,” said Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, CEO and Chairperson, Global Environment Facility. “Apex species like sharks not only signal the health of our oceans, they help maintain it. When sharks are at risk, so are we. The GEF has advanced the protection of sharks and their ocean habitats for over three decades through investments in sustainable fisheries management and championing marine protected areas, including shark sanctuaries, around the world. Lewis’s shark swim and his 30x30 efforts are essential for our collective efforts to ensure the next generation of surfers, swimmers, and ocean conservationists can follow in our footsteps.”
Follow the Campaign:
More details: www.lewispughfoundation.org/campaign/shark-swim-2025/
Daily updates: www. lewispughfoundation.org/campaign/shark-swim-map/
About Lewis Pugh
Lewis Pugh was the first person to complete a long-distance swim in every ocean of the world. He pioneers swims in the most vulnerable ecosystems on Earth to campaign for their protection. In 2007 he became the first person to swim across the North Pole and in 2018 the first person to swim the entire 328-mile (528km) length of the English Channel. He is also the only person to have swum the 217-mile (350km) length of the River Thames (in 2006), and the only person to have swum down a river underneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet (in 2020).
In 2013, Mr. Pugh was appointed United Nations Environment Programme Patron of the Oceans. In 2016, he played a pivotal role in creating the largest Marine Protected Area in the world in the Ross Sea off Antarctica. The Lewis Pugh Foundation has helped protect 3.5 million square km of ocean, an area larger than Western Europe.
Mr. Pugh is from Plymouth, UK. He worked as a maritime lawyer in London before becoming a full-time ocean advocate.
About the Lewis Pugh Foundation
The Lewis Pugh Foundation works for the preservation and conservation of our oceans for a peaceful and sustainable future. To date LPF campaigns have helped protect over 1.35 million square miles / 3.5 million square km of ocean. Their aim is to help fully protect at least 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030.
About the United Nations Environment Programme
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the leading global authority on the environment. UNEP’s mission is to inspire, inform, and enable nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations. In 2013 Lewis Pugh was appointed the first UNEP Patron of the Oceans.
About the Global Environment Facility
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) includes several multilateral funds working together to address the planet's most pressing challenges in an integrated way. Its financing helps developing countries address complex challenges and work towards meeting international environmental goals. Over the past three decades, the GEF has provided more than $26 billion in financing, primarily as grants, and mobilized another $148 billion for country-driven priority projects.
