Jonathan Green
Project Founder & Director, Galapagos Whale Shark Project
Colin Butfield
Co-Founder and Director, Open Planet Studios
His Excellency Mr Luis Vayas Valdivieso
Ambassador of Ecuador to the United Kingdom
Amy Hammond
Fisheries and Habitats Campaign Lead, Oceana UK
Dr Jen Jones
CEO, Galapagos Conservation Trust
Dr Sally Uren OBE
Executive Director and Chief Acceleration Officer, Forum for the Future
It’s often the case that we fear what we don’t understand. Sensationalist media reporting, the Jaws movie franchise and a host of popular misconceptions have conspired to give sharks something of an image problem. But these incredible animals, present in our oceans for over 400 million years, are vital to the health of marine ecosystems.
Sharks at the top of the food chain help to keep prey species at sustainable levels. Remove them, and whole ecosystems can be thrown out of balance. Sharks also play an important role in locking up carbon in our oceans, helping to fight climate change, and they transport nutrients from the cold depths to the warm tropics. We need our oceans, and our oceans need sharks.
But these wonderful creatures are under attack. An estimated 100 million sharks are caught annually by humans. That’s hundreds of thousands every day. Sharks are deliberately fished, often solely for their fins. They are also killed accidentally, ensnared as ‘bycatch’ by fishing fleets, or by lost and discarded nets drifting across the ocean. Sharks can be injured or killed when they are hit by boats, and they are threatened by marine plastic pollution.
But sanctuaries for these persecuted animals still exist. The Galapagos Marine Reserve is home to the highest concentration of sharks in the world. It is one of the last places where Critically Endangered scalloped hammerheads still gather in huge numbers, and there is a globally significant population of whale sharks. In recent years, we have celebrated big wins for the sharks of Galapagos, including the establishment of the new Hermandad Marine Reserve in 2022. However, there is still so much work to do.
To find out more about the amazing world of sharks, and how GCT is supporting shark conservation in Galapagos and the Eastern Pacific, we invite you to join us in central London for an inspiring and thought-provoking evening. This year is an extra special Galapagos Day, as we celebrate our 30th anniversary, and we have lots of exciting plans to mark the occasion. We hope to see you there!
The event opens at 6pm, with talks running from 7pm until approximately 8:30pm. Afterwards there will be time to network and visit our stands, with the event closing at 10pm.
As well as our annual exhibition of the best photos from our Galapagos Photography Competition, we are delighted to be hosting an exhibition this year from London-based photographer Maya Arkane. Maya’s photos shine a spotlight on a side of Galapagos that is often missed by visitors, documenting the people who call the Islands home, their culture and the work that community-based organisations are doing to protect the Archipelago. Maya will be at the event to share insights on her work and answer any questions.
Galapagos Day will also be your last chance to bid in our online silent auction, featuring amazing prizes including a luxury trip to Galapagos, limited edition art prints by Dr Sarah Darwin, and a signed hardback copy of Ocean by Sir David Attenborough and Galapagos Day speaker Colin Butfield.
Tickets are on sale now for £30/£10 for students. The ticket price includes your first drink at the bar, and helps to fund our vital conservation work in Galapagos.
All meeting rooms and spaces at 1 Wimpole Street are wheelchair accessible via lifts or ramps. The Guy Whittle Auditorium is fitted with removable front row chairs for wheelchair users, and can accommodate up to seven wheelchair users. Accessible toilets are located on the ground floor where the event is taking place. There is one public disabled parking space near the main entrance on Wimpole Street.
Guide dogs and dogs with specific training are welcome, and the main reception desk has water bowls available upon request. The lecture theatre has a permanent induction loop for those with hearing aids and signs indicating how to adjust devices to use the loop system. Headphones can also be provided for those with hearing impairments, available upon request from the audiovisual department. Please contact us at [email protected] if there are any other adjustments we could make that would enable you to attend (e.g. a BSL interpreter).
GCT is very happy to offer complimentary carer’s tickets for this event. Please contact us at [email protected] if you would like to bring a carer with you.
Such an insightful evening last night at Galapagos Day for Galapagos Conservation Trust... It was so refreshing to speak about so much positive environmental news and all the ways we can help.
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Outstanding evening. Very inspiring to meet the supporters of the Galapagos Conservation Trust – energised, engaged, knowledgeable – and see some of the work being done by scientists and conservationists working on the Islands.
