Remembering Rob Stewart

In Rob Stewart's short life he lived a life of many. Something that's rare for anybody to do. Through his wonderful film Sharkwater, he alerted myself and hundreds of thousands of other people to the wholesale slaughter of sharks and other species in the ocean.

As a result he transformed many people's thinking including governments around the world. The Chinese government would not have taken shark fin soup off the menu if it hadn't been for Rob. And literally millions of sharks are alive today thanks to him. Although he would have loved to have lived a longer life to contribute more, he died as he would have wished, 300 ft under the water with the marine life he loved. Let's carry on his good work in memory of his extraordinary life well lived.

With that in mind, my son Sam has been posting all week in dedication to his good friend Rob. The posts, ‘a Week of Water’, highlight how Rob saw the world and all of its species as interconnected. His love of sharks stemmed from their place at the top of the ocean food chain, how they are vital for the whole ocean eco-system, which in turn is crucial to humanity. As Sam put it: “He worked tirelessly to bring people close enough to see their beauty and how we are all connected as living species on this planet.”

“He was the most wonderful son, brother, friend, conservationist, humanitarian and human being. His soul shone through to all he met and anyone who had the privilege of spending time with him was always blown away.” Head over to Sam’s Instagram for more of his Week of Water, to Ocean Unite and the Ocean Elders to learn more about our ocean conservation work, and to watch Shark Water.