Who We Are Featured Angels Cristina Zenato

Cristina Zenato

Cristina Zenato

Hails from: Italy
Currently lives in: The Bahamas
Favorite Place: In the depths of the African Rain Forest, on the top of a mountain, in the darkness of a cave, in the arms of the Ocean.
Favorite Things to Do: Scuba diving and free diving with sharks, cave diving, free diving, hiking mountains, yoga.
Favorite Shark: Caribbean Reef, Tiger and Blue

What shark are you most like and why?
According to shark hero Joe Romeiro: "You are absolutely a carib (carribean reef shark), no doubt, fast and quick to jump, quick on the move, slow when you need to be. Calm in the background at times. Incredibly shy and beautiful but don’t let that fool you. You are a reefy thru and thru!

It’s so true to a carib. They have a picky diet and can be very picky at times and at others devour a lionfish. A bit unpredictable.
There is one difference I can see: for all the reefs out there, there is only one of you .

If you could tell people one thing about sharks and/or the oceans, what would it be?
They are our beginning, our present and our future. We need to change the way we act towards this world to ensure their survival.

I was 8 years old when I decided one day I would swim with sharks and to be an underwater park ranger to protect it from harmful humans. A series of fortunate coincidences and personal choices brought me right where I work with sharks to this day.

Read her interview with Shark Angels

Learn More:
Facebook: Cristina Zenato (public persona)
Web Page: www.cristinazenato.com
See her in action

Short Bio:
Born In Italy and grown up in the African Rain Forest, Cristina has been diving since 1993 and a professional since 1994. She is the Underwater Explorer Society diving operations manager and shares her passion for the Ocean between sharks and caves. She has recently been inducted in the Women Diver Hall of Fame for her educational role in the Shark Conservation work and Cave Exploration.

Cristina is known for a special relationship she creates with sharks, putting them in a sort of hypnosis through a gentle touch of the snout. She uses this technique to help scientists collect DNA samples and sharks data, but personally she uses it to remove sharks hooks and parasites. Active explorer and cave instructor she is completing a survey work to guarantee the protection of fragile cave systems on Grand Bahama.

Education is the key word in Cristina’s work for she believes that: “Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood.  Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less" [Marie Curie] Bio by Eddy Raphael

 

The Truth About Sharks

image One
Predator or Prey

Sharks kill fewer than 4 humans on average each year, while humans kill an estimated 100 million sharks annually.

image Two
Evolved to Perfection

Sharks have been honed to perfection, having existed on this planet for over 400 million years.

image Three
Why We Need Sharks

Sharks play a vital role at the top of the food chain by maintaining balance in the oceans.

image Four
Looming Extinction

* An estimated 73 million sharks are killed each year (that works out to more than 10,000 sharks per hour).

image Five
Shark Fin Soup

Shark fins are tasteless, and may contain high levels of toxic methyl-mercury.

image Six
Laws Protecting Sharks

Only a small number of countries have banned finning - many more need to be encouraged to enact legislation.

image Seven
Shark Products

Many people assume that because they don’t eat shark fin soup – then they can’t possibly be contributing to the demise of the sharks and rays.