Thank you Windsor! The World's First Shark Friendly Town is in England

What does it mean to be shark friendly? Well, in Windsor, England, it means no shark products are sold anywhere in the city limits: not a single cartilage pill at the local herbal shop, not a single rock salmon steak at a restaurant, not a single bowl of shark fin soup, and not a single shark tooth trinket at a souvenir stand. Yes, the favorite home of the queen is now the FIRST place in the world to be considered officially “Shark Friendly”.

A few weeks ago, Kim and I were hosted by Dale Bowie for the festivities, whose brainchild it was to have a Shark Awareness week. It was a well-planned, wonderful event geared around raising awareness, and funds, for shark related causes.


An informational donation booth in the center of the town, evening screenings and lectures, school presentations, a raffle that raised over $5,000 USD for shark causes including The Shark Trust, Sea Shepherd and Shark Angels, a special batch of Lush’s Shark Fin Soap on sale, an organized egg case hunt, a shark dive, and much more - all culminating into the finale: the presentation of the world’s first Shark Friendly award to the Deputy Mayor of Windsor. (Shame, the Queen Mum herself wasn’t in the neighborhood.)

Indeed, Dale and his local group of dive and shark enthusiasts had managed to get all of the shark products out of Windsor, ensuring that not only was this event special – it was the first of its kind. Well done Dale, Sea Shepherd UK and Aquatic Element.

Now let’s hope this sets in motion a far bigger movement and soon, many more localized efforts will kick off, with many more municipalities joining suit.