'Jaws' ocean swimmer Lewis Pugh backs Monica Lennon's ecocide law for Scotland

Daily Record

4 days ago

'Jaws' ocean swimmer Lewis Pugh backs Monica Lennon's ecocide law for Scotland
Endurance swimmer and campaigner Pugh has just finished an epic 12-day swim in the waters where 'Jaws' was filmed to raise awareness of endangered sharks.
Lewis Pugh speaks with press directly after completing his 12-day 62-mile swim around the island of Martha's Vineyard.
(Image: AP Photo/Leah Willingham )
Endurance swimmer and world-renowned oceans campaigner Lewis Pugh has thrown his weight behind Monica Lennon's Scottish Ecocide Bill. Pugh, 55, has just finished an epic 12-day swim around Martha's Vineyard in the US - where the movie 'Jaws' was filmed - raising awareness of endangered sharks.
And he's backing Labour MSP Lennon's plan to criminalise mass environmental destruction in Scotland - saying it's an 'important step' in the global fight to save our wildlife. Pugh, who is the UN Patron of the Oceans, said: 'I've spent 40 years swimming in the world's oceans, and I've seen them change dramatically.
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'Take sharks, for example - on average, 274,000 are killed globally every single day. These creatures were around before the dinosaurs, and yet in my lifetime, they've been pushed to the brink.
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'For too long, the law hasn't kept pace with the damage we're doing.
Endurance swimmer Lewis Pugh on his swim around Martha's Vineyard in the US
(Image: AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty )
"When we harm nature like this, it's not just wildlife that suffers - we're creating real problems for people too: scarcity, stress, even conflict.
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'This is about justice - about protecting what we cannot replace.
'Some damage is so severe, so permanent, it should be unthinkable.
"We need to draw a clear red line that says: you will not cross this.
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'This development in Scotland is an important step forward.'
Monica Lennon at the launch event for the proposed ecocide bill in Edinburgh on November 8, 2023.
Pugh, from Plymouth in Devon, was the first person to undertake a long-distance swim in every ocean of the world.
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He pioneered the first swim across the North Pole, the first swim along the length of the English Channel, and even swam under Antarctic ice in 2020 to show the impacts of climate change.
In 2023, he swam the full length of the Hudson River in New York to raise issues around water quality.
Now he has just braved the great white shark hotspot around Martha's Vineyard, an island off Massachusetts, on a 60-mile swim to mark the 50th anniversary of the Steven Spielberg 1975 classic, Jaws.
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Documenting his progress on social media under #TheSharkSwim hashtag, Pugh has highlighted the threats to the survival of sharks such as overfishing.
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(Image: Getty Images )
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Writing on X on Monday, he revealed: "I've just completed #TheSharkSwim
"12 days and 59 miles around the island of Martha's Vineyard, where Jaws was filmed 50 years ago.
"It's been one of the toughest swims of my life. Cold water, relentless wind, big waves and the constant thought of what might be beneath me. But I swam here for a reason
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"Jaws has shaped our perception of sharks as vindictive killers. That fear spread across the globe and lasted for half a century.
"Now it's time to change the narrative for a new generation.
"Sharks are not monsters. They're magnificent. They're essential. And they're seriously endangered.
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"As apex predators, they keep the ocean in balance. Take them out, and the entire ecosystem starts to collapse.
" Right now, sharks need us. An estimated 274,000 sharks are killed every single day. It's an ecocide taking place right now, and we must stop it."
We previously told how Lennon's Scottish Ecocide Bill - set to be published this week - has also won the backing of Sir David Attenborough's acclaimed wildlife cameraman Doug Allan.
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Lennon's proposals could see polluters and other perpetrators of severe environmental damage in Scotland punished by up to 20 years in jail.