The winner of the 5km Lalomanu half marathon in Samoa is a participant, who ran in a shark suit.
Australian Kat Riley works in Samoa and participates in running, triathlon and inter-island swim events organised by Samoa Events.
At the Lalomanu event, Riley decided to run with a purpose after hearing about the outreach campaigns organised by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) in collaboration with the Government of Samoa and diving operators such as the Samoa Dive and Snorkel.
Riley felt inspired to use the marathon to raise awareness about the importance of sharks to the marine environment.
"I ran in the shark costume because I care about the future of Samoan reefs as a food source and income for Samoan people, I see baby sharks being sold which means that sharks are being killed before they have a chance to reproduce which results in reduced numbers of sharks,” she said.
Running the five kilometre distance in a shark costume sparked a great deal of interest and enthusiasm from other competitors and onlookers, with spectators along the roadside cheering "Go malie!"
This positive response was very encouraging for Juney Ward, SPREP's Shark and Ray Conservation Officer.
"Generally, people are scared when they hear the word shark and often think that sharks are aggressive. Not everyone knows about why sharks are an important part of a healthy reef system and that the without sharks, the health of the reef and fish diversity and abundance declines, “said Ward.
Every year, over 100 million sharks are caught in commercial fisheries globally due to the high demand for shark fins.
This has resulted in more than 54% of the shark population being categorized as threatened or near threatened with extinction.
The Pacific has taken a leadership role in protecting sharks and rays within their national waters by establishing sanctuaries that sets in place strong conservation measures that bans the commercial sale and export of sharks and products.
Promoting the importance of sharks to Pacific island culture and heritage has resulted in the successful listing of some shark species on International Conventions such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS).
For her part, Riley will continue to promote the protection of sharks in Samoa and would like to see more shark related events and more people and villages involved in shark conservation. So, if you happen to see a shark running along the Samoan roadside, be sure to give Riley a thumbs up.
Photo: J.Ward/SPREP. Caption: If you happen to see a shark running along the Samoan roadside, be sure to give Kat Riley a thumbs up!