Land Shark

It’s huge! Not full grown, but at 23 feet, it’s still a huge shark! It’s a basking shark, the world’s second largest species of fish, and right now this one lives in my garage. It’s not a real basking shark of course. It’s an inflatable, made of fabric and air. But it looks about as realistic as an inflatable shark can look I think. We spent a couple of months designing this shark with the help of the custom-inflatables company Landmark Creations out of Minnesota. This basking shark will now spend its life as an ambassador for sharks everywhere as it allows people to feel what it’s like to stand next to a true giant among sharks. We designed this inflatable shark as part of a grant from the Save Our Seas Foundation that has opened the door for us to visit aquariums, museums, schools and libraries to promote “Shark Days,” a series of family friendly shark events based around our film The Shark Riddle. We created The Shark Riddle (through SOSF support) with the goal of spreading two simple messages – 1) Sharks are important for a healthy ocean, and 2) Sharks are very diverse. And what better way to share the diversity of sharks than to bring along a life-sized basking shark – a giant among sharks with a huge gaping mouth designed for feeding on the tiniest creatures drifting in the ocean’s current.