200 Sharks: Raising Awareness through Art
60 seconds, 200 sharks and a very determined artist
FRANCESCA PAGE
Sharks are vitally important apex predators in the ocean, and have existed for millennia. More recently, an illuminating discovery of bioluminescent deep-sea sharks has shown how much we still do not know about these organisms. But sharks are under threat from intense fishing pressure. One artist is on a mission to raise awareness of sharks, turning them from mindless killers to captivating creatures. Francesca Page is turning fear into wonder through her art, in the hope of inspiring people to protect sharks, before it’s too late.
Every 60 seconds around 200 sharks are lost from the ocean due to human activities. My mission for the 200 Sharks project is to raise awareness about this incredible and vulnerable species before it is too late. Through this project I aim to increase awareness that sharks are not mindless killers but complex, intelligent beings who are more than just a set of jaws. For me, the power to take a blank canvas and turn it into a piece of art that can help move and captivate you, ignite a fire within you, and transport you into a new world to meet new creatures is one of the most transformative experiences on this planet. Let me invite you into an artist’s view of the world, and why I believe art can help save the ocean.
Francesca Page - About the Artist
I am a British artist, award winning photographer, dive professional, explorer, and storyteller specialising in mediums such as watercolour, digital illustrations, photography, and writing. I create large scale watercolour and gouache paintings of wildlife interacting with their environment based on my own encounters. My motivation as an artist has always been to evoke an emotional connection to these beautiful and powerful creatures in their environments. Some of the work I create is on a large scale, almost towering over you and forcing you to be invited into this new world, allowing you to grasp the magic of mother nature.
Many threats to the planet, such as climate change, can feel quite overwhelming at times, yet are very hard to convey visually. So, my paintings also provide a portrait of what is at threat, and act as a call for faster action against the loss of the variety of beauty and colour in our natural world. My art isn’t just an extension of who I am, it also allows me to be a voice for nature. Creating, in all its forms, doesn’t just serve as a form of personal expression and therapy, it is also a powerful way to communicate the experiences I have had in nature and serves as an important catalyst to connect you, the viewer, with the incredible planet I have fallen in love with.
Swimming with Sharks - the Encounter that Changed my Life
My love for the ocean started when I learnt to scuba dive at the age of 13. But my passion for sharks and wanting to save them came from a very special encounter I had when I was 17 with thresher sharks around Malapascua Island in the Philippines. After this dive I lost my fear of sharks. The very creature we are taught to fear, in the space of 5 minutes taught me that these are intelligent, social, and inquisitive creatures are more than just a set of jaws and that they deserve our respect. Since then, the ocean has become my playground as well as my purpose in life. This encounter helped shape the artist I am today and this is why I included a thresher shark in the 200 Sharks logo.
It was my last dive of the trip and I had blocked sinuses, but I was adamant I wanted to see thresher sharks, so I continued with the dive. Our group started the descent together and then I hit the wall at 5 metres; I couldn’t equalise. The divemaster was signalling to ask if I wanted to end the dive, but I had a gut feeling that I couldn’t leave the water, not just yet. Ten minutes went by and I started signalling to the divemaster. But then he pointed to his left, screaming into his regulator... A flash of silver and blue; I looked to my right to find myself staring into the massive eyes of a three meter thresher shark. My heart stopped. Not from fear, but from wonder and amazement. I was speechless. The thresher shark was about one meter away from me, and I was captivated by its huge eyes for what seemed like forever. In those long 30 seconds, I formed a deep connection; it felt like I’d had a conversation with the shark. I realised that this shark was intrigued by us, observing us out of pure curiosity, and not because it was seeing if we were food. And just like that it swam off, into the blue, elegantly gliding through the water with its tail trailing behind like a snake. My passion for sharks was born!
The more I dive with sharks the deeper the spell they cast upon me becomes. As an artist, sharks are an endless source of inspiration, a seductive blend of grace and power that lures me into the ocean again and again in the hope I am lucky enough to get a glimpse of their beauty once more. I know all too well the power that a shark encounter can create, changing not only my mindset but my life’s path. Not everyone can access the ocean or see a shark, and that’s where the power of my art comes into play. I hope to open people’s minds to the world below the waves and connect them to a creature they have been taught to fear - without even getting their feet wet. I portray sharks in a new light, showing them as complex animals possessing characteristics that arouse wonder rather than fear.
200 Sharks - Raising Awareness
The mission of my 200 Sharks project is to dive with, photograph and paint 200 different species of sharks. And then, through the power of art and storytelling, to bring you face-to-face with the ocean’s most iconic and misunderstood fish, the shark. Through my artwork I aim to provide a spotlight for these living dinosaurs, showcasing their intelligence, habits, adaptations, diversity, beauty, and personalities. With this project I am creating a body of work that takes my own personal diving encounters and uses this as a basis to fuel artwork that breaks down the negative stigma on sharks - turning fear into love. I believe education and connection is the key to unlocking the empathy door within our minds. Art holds the power to create feeling, passion, and ultimately change. Our world is a better place with sharks in it, and as an artist I feel it is my duty to be a voice for these silent creatures.
Humans are visual creatures - art has been used to document and record the world around us for thousands of years. Communicating a message through art is an important skill, and something that makes humans stand out from other animals. Art is something that helps distinguish us and also connect us at the same time. A single image is powerful and has the potential to create an emotional connection, which I believe is the foundation for taking the first step into anthropogenic consciousness. Once you love something you will do anything to protect it.
Sharks are an ancient species, having been on the earth for more than 450 million years (more than 2000 times longer than modern humans). Sharks have survived the last five mass extinctions, but their fate today hangs in the hands of man. Around 100 million sharks are killed annually. That is around 11,000 per hour. Yet sharks kill only around 5 people on average per year.
Sharks are killed for a variety of reasons. Shark fins are popular in Chinese soup and their livers are used in cosmetics. They’re killed by sport fishing, drum lines, or from bycatch and getting entangled in discarded fishing nets. Sharks must swim constantly in order to keep oxygen-rich water flowing over their gills to breathe. Once caught in a net or line this movement is restricted causing the shark to slowly drown.
We live on a blue planet where nearly three quarters of the Earth’s surface shimmers and pulses with the tides and currents. More than 50% of the oxygen we breathe comes from the ocean - that’s every other breath you take. So it is clear that the ocean is vital not only for our very existence, but to every living creature on this planet. The ocean regulates weather and climate, and over 3 billion people around the world rely on the ocean as their primary source of protein. The ocean also supports livelihoods and provides income. But why are sharks worth caring about?
As apex predators, sharks play an important role in the ecosystem by controlling the numbers of species below them in the food chain. So, an ocean without sharks is a very scary place, not the other way round. By taking sharks out of the ocean larger predatory fish increase in abundance and reduce the number of herbivores. This can cause a shift towards algae dominated ecosystems. Without sharks, we are losing key ecosystems like coral reefs and seagrass beds, which are vital in the fight against climate change.
Art for Education
We are all connected in this vast and incredible network of life on earth. Sharks are integral to the planet’s health, but they are in trouble and need our help. Deepening our understanding and appreciation of sharks isn’t just for their sake but for the sake of the ocean, the planet, and our own future. For sharks to survive and thrive we need to change the way we perceive these wonderful creatures. It is within our power to help them flourish, yet we are currently decimating their populations.
A minimum of 30% of our ocean must be protected to ensure a healthy planet and a healthy future. Currently, only about 3% is protected. An important step in the protection of sharks (and consequently the ocean) is to create more marine protected areas and by educating people about the importance of sharks. Through this education our mindsets and behaviours can shift towards positive change.
As an artist, visual communicator, and storyteller, I feel my 200 Sharks project can be a part of this education for change. Art does not show people what to do, yet engaging with a good work of art can connect you to your senses - body and mind. It can make you feel the world. And this feeling spurs thinking, action, and change. Art can help you gain that connection and allow you to start implementing more sustainable behaviours, approaches, and conversations in your everyday life. Art in any of its forms has caused change throughout history and has the power to do so now more than ever before. There has never been such a liberating moment in human history to be an artist making art for change.
“200 Sharks is my artist’s legacy to help provide a voice not only for sharks and the ocean but all life on this planet, including you!”
If you’ve enjoyed this article from Francesca Page, follow her here @francescaapage and check out her website.
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