Shark Safe Network Founders:

• 

  Lawrence Groth

  As a young boy, Lawrence could not contain his fascination with sharks. His mother would often joke that after Jaws while most people wanted to stay out of the water, Lawrence wanted to go in hoping to have a chance encounter with a shark! After years of being a commercial diver, Lawrence began offering shark diving expeditions off of California (Farallons) and Mexico (Guadalupe Island) to enable shark lovers everywhere to see the most revered shark of them all, the great white. He has donated money and supplies to great white research at Guadalupe and the Farallons to promote the protection of and insight into the lives of these majestic apex predators. He has coordinated trips around the world in search of different shark species often patronizing local villages to help them see the value of a living shark versus a dead one. Over the past decade, he's seen a significant decline in the shark population. The effect of shark finning and longlining has nearly extinguished these vital sea creatures. Complete removal of sharks from the ecosystem would have dire consequences on our planet. Lawrence's love for sharks is only surpassed by his respect for them. Because they can't fight for their own survival, Lawrence formed the Shark Safe Network to educate the general public on the shark's plight and to foster collaborative shark conservation movements.
• 

  Bob McNerney

  Bob spends as much time as possible in the water with sharks. He has spent his life in and around the ocean and has logged over 2000 dives. He guest divemasters trips to Bahamas and Guadalupe purely for the love of being with sharks and to work with new shark divers to ensure their experience is safe and rewarding. Bob is also an evocative and creative photographer whose images make even non-shark divers appreciate the beauty and splendor of sharks. Bob is a founding member of SSN who accompanied Lawrence through the streets of San Francisco's Chinatown imploring restaurants to stop selling shark fin soup. They successfully convinced some restaurant owners as well as patrons, but there is still much work to be done in San Francisco and around the world.
• 

  Heidi DeRosa

  Despite growing up in the Midwest, Heidi admired sharks since she was a child and longed to see one somewhere other than a text book. Fond of reading and writing, Heidi usually chose sharks as her subject. After 20+ years of shark dreaming, Heidi got scuba certified and saw her first shark in the Bahamas, and what a sight - a great hammerhead! Realizing this dream only fanned the flames of her lifelong passion. After traveling the world to dive with sharks and discovering the horrific and rapid way in which they're being slaughtered, Heidi recognized it was time to get involved with shark conservation efforts. She aligned with the Shark Safe Network in order to give back to sharks before it was too late. Heidi provides written and photographic content for the SSN and participates in several campaigns.
• 

  Mary O'Malley

  For Mary, the ocean is like a second home. While she has an affinity for creatures of all sizes on land and in the sea, she is especially passionate about sharks. Early on as a diver and photographer, Mary often encountered sharks and found their beauty breathtaking. When she learned they were being devastated by commercial fishermen, and especially the way most sharks are finned alive, she dedicated her time and money to conservation efforts aimed at saving them. Mary is heavily involved with multiple shark conservation campaigns from changing shark tournaments to catch and release to pushing for local legislation to protect sharks. Mary is a key contributor to the Shark Safe Network website as well as drafting material for its various campaigns. She is exceptional at writing letters to companies or restaurants using or selling shark products urging them to stop. In her personal life, Mary is matched with the perfect mate. Knowing and appreciating her love for sharks, her now husband proposed to her while they were cage diving with great white sharks. They later spent their honeymoon in Fiji - shark diving, of course.

• Shark Safe Network Member Organizations

  
  Special thanks to these invaluable supporters and advisors:
  Jim Abernethy
  web: www.scuba-adventures.com/
  
  Gary & Brenda Adkison
  web: www.shark.ch/Foundation/index.html
  
  Neil Hammerschlag
  web: www.neil4sharks.org/
  
  Shawn Heinrichs
  web: www.bluespheremedia.com/home.html
  
  Joe Romeiro
  web: www.facebook.com/pages/Coventry-RI/333-PRODUCTIONS/57793888166
  
  The Shark Savers Team
  web: www.sharksavers.org/en/about-us/leadership.html
  
  ...And last but definitely not least - our web designer extraordinaire - Shane Finnerty!
  web: www.ShaneInLa.com/