Lauren Sandeman is a dedicated ocean campaigner, whose current work focuses on transforming Australia's shark culling programs into scientifically-supported non-lethal mitigation programs as the campaign head of Sea Shepherd's Shark Defence Campaign.

Lauren is also a TEDx speaker and co-founder of Cosplay Clean Up Global, inspiring people to embrace their inner superheroes to combat marine plastic pollution and support marine conservation through everyday changes. As if that’s not enough, Lauren also serves as Operations Director for Envoy: Shark Cull. It’s safe to say Lauren is a shark expert!

Sea Shepherd’s Shark Defence Campaign sheds much-needed light on the destructive nature of state-sanctioned shark ‘control’ programs in Australia, and here we chat with Lauren about why we should all love sharks and what their loss would mean for ocean biodiversity. There are many important take-home messages in this chat, including how every single one of us can use our voice or our actions to elicit change – even if the task at hand is a big one.

In this episode we discuss:
• Lauren’s background and love of the ocean
• Founding Cosplay Clean Up Global
• Lauren’s involvement in Envoy: Shark Cull
• Sea Shepherd’s mission, significant wins, and current campaigns
• The enormous extent of marine plastic pollution
• Why sharks are critical for the health and biodiversity of our oceans
• The realities of current shark control measures and shark-human interactions
• Alternative shark protection methods
• The value of media for driving change
• The United Nations high seas treaty
• Australian shark conservation – what needs to change
• The importance of individual actions – becoming an everyday superhero
• How you can support Sea Shepherd’s work

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To view all the links to the websites and documents, visit the show notes on our website.

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