From Behind the Scenes to the Open Seas

Guadalupe Island’s “Ropey” in 2018 by Laurel Irvine.

One Woman’s Journey from A Film Industry Professional to an Advocate for Sharks. Written by Blakemarie Martinez, science communicator and shark safety diver. Get to know Blake in her interview with Shark Cafe. This time, she flips the focus onto one of Shark Allies’ own.

Laurel Irvine, Director of Development and Communications at the nonprofit Shark Allies, was born and raised in Los Angeles. Her surfer girl style, sun-kissed hair, and bright blue eyes are a testament to growing up in beautiful Southern California. Like many in L.A., her father worked in the film industry, and she spent endless afternoons behind the set as he worked. The rush of actors moving about, shouting directors, and excitement of the many minds working behind the scenes led to her passion for storytelling, and when she left for university, she decided to follow in her father’s footsteps.

As she began her career in television, she found the stress of the fast-paced lifestyle begin to wear on her. She searched for an outlet to enjoy time in the water again, and started volunteering at the Marine Mammal Rescue Center, rehabilitating sick and injured sealions and seals. They treat marine mammals that are entangled in fishing gear, suffering from gunshot wounds, abandoned by their mothers, or suffering from neurological issues due to algae blooms and overgrowths. “It really opened my eyes to a whole different community and gave me a sense of purpose. It brought me through my final years in the film business,” said Laurel.

As she was assisting an actor, she made contact with an incredible team of female publicists. It was working alongside this powerful team during the height of the “Me Too” movement  that she learned to blend her marketing skills, storytelling gifts, and interest in policy work to make a larger impact. She has been making waves ever since.

Laurel & “Ropey” in Guadalupe Island, 2019.

As an avid scuba diver, surfer, and free diver, Laurel continued to make connections in the world of ocean and animal advocacy. After an adventure to southern Australia to  dive with great white sharks, she was inspired to do more for the predators that so easily get forgotten. She then met Stefanie Brendl, an underwater photographer and shark diver based out of Oahu, Hawaii, and the founder of Shark Allies.

Stefanie’s policy work alongside Senator Clayton Hee led to the first shark fin trade ban in the islands, and this shark protection win changed the course of Stefanie’s Life. She started working in advocacy full time, and a partnership with Mark Cuban of Shark Tank opened doors for the nonprofit that she never thought possible. With his support, she gained full funding to create another shark fin trade ban campaign for Florida, one of the shark fishing capitols of the world.

After volunteering with Shark Allies for a few years, Laurel left the film industry and was brought on the team to work full time. She now uses her passion for storytelling to share their advocacy work on Shark Allies’ current campaigns: the European Union Fin Trade Ban, and the Southern California Gill Net Ban.

The petition to end the shark fin trade in the E.U. began in January of 2020, right before the Covid19 pandemic, and was extended for two years because of shutdowns. The proposal is now back in full-force and currently conducting an impact assessment to analyze the proposal’s potential impact on the fisheries. Shark Allies is still heavily involved, creating their own impact assessment focused on often forgotten industries with high income potential such as scuba diving and tourism.

Diving with bull sharks and Ally Encounters partner, Florida Shark Diving in 2023. Photo by Jordan Lempke.

But the world of petitions and advocacy often become dry and uninteresting to those not actively involved, and this is where Laurel comes in. “Advocating for stronger shark protections is quite a tricky messaging and PR mountain to deal with, because, well, not everybody loves sharks like they love dolphins and whales. We have the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which so  eloquently safeguards mammals from overfishing, but if you bring up sharks in the legislature, only half the audience even shows up. So, one thing that I've always found really helpful when advocating for sharks is making it individual to people and getting inside the mind of our audience” says Laurel.

This personalized approach can easily be seen in their Southern California campaign to ban gill nets. Current policies allow for a loophole that has created the biggest threat to the great white shark population on the West Coast of North and South America. This gill net fishery has miles-long nets that catch anything swimming in the area. From the target species of halibut to sea turtles, seals, dolphins, turtles, and of course, sharks, 125 other nontarget species have perished in these nets. The waters around Southern California and the Channel Islands are a nursery ground for great white sharks. As populations in this hot spot declines, we look to the cautionary tale of South Africa and how their underwater ecosystems completely fell apart with the loss of their great whites. Sharks are the white blood cells of their habitat. They consume diseased, injured, and aging animals which leads to a healthier population. Over seventy percent of the planet’s oxygen comes from sea plants, and if the animals that eat those plants overpopulate due to not having any predators, we quite literally won’t be able to survive.

Sevengill shark sighted in San Diego’s kelp forest during Shark Cafe’s first dive trip with Waterhorse Charters, 2021. Read more about the “Creatures of the Kelp Forest” here. Check out our "Sevengill Kelp Recycled Journal” here.

“Even though the Channel Islands are protected, that fishery is somehow able to retain white sharks if they catch them-even though white sharks are also protected, because of a research loophole. It would be amazing to just completely shut down this fishery, but that's likely not possible unless we were to buy out the fishermen of all their permits. So, this bill proposal will close all those loopholes” says Laurel.

Her unique take on advocacy storytelling has led to exciting and unexpected fundraising partnerships. From local tattoo shops donating their profits to Shark Allies during Shark Week, to creating a “shark safe seal” for beauty products, Shark Allies is bringing shark advocacy into the consumer’s everyday life. “We make it personal by relating the issues to that group or persons interests and diverse perspectives. You have to know the person and what moves them” says Stefanie, founder of Shark Allies. This personal connection gives power back to the consumers and allows them to make choices in alignment with their personal beliefs.

If Laurel and Stefanie are talking to policy makers in Southern California, they will remind them that the Channel Islands brings millions of dollars in revenue because of dive tourism. People come to see the healthy kelp forests, the sea lions, the giant sea bass, and the sharks, all iconic scenes in California scuba diving. In Florida fin bans they talk to decision makers about pure numbers. How much does a fisherman bring in from a dead bull shark compared to a regenerative business plan like shark diving tourism? If you if you can give a numerical value to a decision maker who's thinking about their constituents and livelihoods, their mind will be more open. “Understanding who your individual audiences is always important if we have specific measures to hit and needles to move.” says Laurel.

Photos by Mattie Cap of Ally Encounters partner, Go Adventure Hawaii, in 2023.

The ladies of Shark Allies not only empower policy makers to protect sharks, but they also focus on empowering the public, no matter where in the world they live. “When we’re talking about environmental crises, it's really disheartening to see the problem dumped on you. And so, one thing that I really make a point of anything that we do in communications at Shark Allies is make sure that if we're giving you the problem and telling you the grim reality of things, we’re also going to give you a follow up on how you can help as an individual.” says Laurel.

Shark allies gives easy to implement tips to keep sharks safe, even if you are landlocked. Not eating shark, checking your products for squalene (a product made from shark liver oil if not certified as vegan), and reading pet kibble labels to look for words like “whitefish” “rock salmon”  and “flake” are a few ways to ensure that shark is not being consumed in the home. Joint supplements that contain “chondroitin”, fish-based garden fertilizers, and even lip balms can contain shark products, so Shark Allies actively focuses their communications on informing the public of these hidden terms.

Laurel works endlessly to protect sharks around the world and inspires others to do the same. “The first thing that Stefanie and taught me is that we need all hands on deck for this environmental crisis. If you want to start a beauty company, make it your mission to be completely clean and ingredient transparent.  If you are an artist, or a marketer,  there's so many different skill sets that contribute to advocacy conservation. You just have to use your voice.”

Blakemarie Martinez (@blakeintheblue)

Shark Allies Science Communicator & Hawaii-based Shark Safety Diver

Photo (left): Blake leading a shark dive aboard Ally Encounters partner, Go Adventure Hawaii.