Thank you all so much for the thousands of suggestions on what the priorities should be for the first Ocean Elders meeting.

We will be taking your thoughts on board seriously when the first OceanElders meeting takes place on November 16th.

OceanElders is an eclectic group (from James Cameron to Dr. Sylvia A. Earle, Neil Young to Capt. Don Walsh, Ted Turner to Jean-Michel Cousteau) united behind a common goal. We want to promote ocean conservation, pursue the protection of the ocean's habitat and wildlife, and preserve its ecosystems and species biodiversity.

Meanwhile, the campaign with WildAid and Virgin Unite to get countries and states around the world to ban shark finning has had some successes this week. Mexico has agreed a ban and Canada has recommended a ban. California has voted overwhelmingly for a ban – it just needs Governor Brown to sign it off.

My recent visit to China, campaigning on shark finning with Yao Ming, is also having quite an impact, with restaurants and hotels beginning to say they won’t sell shark fin soup any more. The photo above is from a restaurant chain in China that has stopped selling shark fins as a result of last week's event. But there's a tremendous amount of work to do to get an actual ban in China.

The OceanElders will keep up the pressure and would love you all to support us. Go to OceanElders to find out more - I look forward to letting you know how our first meeting goes.