Southern California Shark Stewards

November Speaker 2019
Our speaker for November is Maria Korcsmaros of SoCal Shark Stewards. On May 29, 2016,
a great white shark bit Maria while swimming at Big Corona beach in Corona del Mar, CA.
Rather than be bitter from this experience, Maria has dedicated herself to learning as much
as possible about sharks in the ocean with the help of the Shark Stewards team. As an
athlete and athletic trainer and super mom- Maria is now inspiring others to save sharks and
the oceans.
The oceans are at risk. Sharks are overfished and plastics pollute, killing marine life and
destroying reefs. We must learn to co-exist with marine life. If we want to continue surfing,
swimming, sailing and enjoying the bounty of the ocean we need to protect the ocean. Shark
Stewards is an advocate for healthy oceans through education and policy. It is our
responsibility to keep the ocean clean, healthy, and preserve it for generations to come.
Shark Stewards mission is to restore ocean health by saving sharks from overfishing and the
shark fin trade, and protecting critical marine habitat through the establishment of marine
protected areas and shark sanctuaries. We do this by introducing laws to reduce from
overfishing and ban the shark fin trade, and through the establishment of marine protected area.