January Jones swims with the sharks
When you think of sharks, many people think of ‘Jaws’, the unstoppable man eating fish. Sharks have gotten a bad reputation in most movies spawned from Hollywood. And the truth about the amphibian is far from the fiction. Whale Sharks are known to span up to forty one feet and weigh over twenty one tones. But the large animal feeds mainly on plankton, microscopic plants and animals. Nonetheless, a shark of that magnitude has a very large mouth, so who would want to swim with them? That would be January Jones, an actress from Hollywood who stars in the AMC series Madmen and known more for her role in American Wedding. Jones is in Belize filming a public announcement on the whale sharks found at Gladden Split off the Placencia Peninsula. News Five’s Delahnie Bain has a report on Oceana’s ongoing campaign to save the sharks.
Delahnie Bain, Reporting
They’re normally viewed as predators and are feared by most people but the reality is that these creatures need protection. The shark population is depleting rapidly and Oceana has taken up the task to spread awareness. So for the past two days Hollywood actress January Jones, who is the sharks spokesperson, has been in Belize filming a Public Service Announcement.
January Jones, Actor
january jones
“I’ve been a fan of sharks since I was a little girl and it’s a topic that’s interested me for a very long time. When I came to a point in my career where I was able to choose a charity or make an impact or use my name to make an impact in some way, I wanted to start a charity or become a part of a charity that dealt with shark preservation and Oceana was just a perfect fit for me. We got to go on amazing trips and interact with different species of sharks and it’s been a dream come true for me personally because I not only enjoy it but I love that it’s brought awareness to the depleting shark population around the world and it’s just something I’m very passionate about.”
While having a celebrity on the forefront of the campaign draws attention to the issue, educating people, particularly kids that sharks are not as big a threat as they seem on television, is the next step.
julie stockbridge
Julie Stockbridge, Marine Scientist, Oceana
“One of the things that we’d like to do is to educate people more and let them understand the importance that sharks play in the eco-system and also that we don’t need to be afraid of them. They are top predators but they don’t prey on people. One of the things that we’d like to do within the education system is to integrate some of this information, let people understand, let kids understand that we don’t need to fear sharks in fact we should be scared for them because their populations are declining.”
Jones is working with Oceana as an advocate for sharks, but she had a dreamlike experience in Belize when she came up close and personal with a whaleshark.
January Jones
“It was like nothing I—I can’t even put it into words. It was like a religious experience I guess, I think. Just how perfect it all turned out and the fact that I was able to come to a place I’ve never been, so extremely beautiful and on the first day to go down and we weren’t sure. There’s no guarantees that you’ll see a whale shark, they’re very illusive animals. We had just left the area and we saw one in like twenty feet of water so it was a really perfect situation being able to swim with it and see it that close and it was a—it meant a lot to me.”
The whale shark is a globally protected species, but in Belize legislation is in the works to manage and restrict the shark fishery. Delahnie Bain for News Five.
