Actress Sadie Sink travels to La Paz, Mexico and the Pacific Ocean to discover the whale shark, the world’s largest omnivore, for the third episode of the new series of filmic shorts dedicated to Prada Re-Nylon and created with storytelling partner National Geographic CreativeWorks.
Gentle giants, whale sharks are the world’s largest fish – their roles as “gardeners of the ocean” is derived from their diet of plankton and algae, consuming enormous quantities to fuel their vast size.
In turn, they aid marine biology by controlling these plant levels – excessive amounts of either would decrease sunlight and oxygen in the surrounding ocean, disrupting the natural ecosystem.
But today these essential animals are under threat, as marine biologist, SEA BEYONDer and Goodwill Ambassador of the project Giovanni Chimienti and whale shark specialist Alberto Garcia Baciero discuss. Their numbers are affected by overfishing – where whale sharks are often accidentally caught – struck by vessels when feeding near the surface, and injured through unsustainable tourism. A major problem is ocean pollution, which both affects the animals themselves and the plankton that is their main source of sustenance.
The SEA BEYOND educational program by Prada Group, conducted in partnership with the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO since 2019, aims to raise awareness on the various threads that affect the delicate marine ecosystems all around the world and the need to preserve them.
1% of the proceeds from the Prada Re-Nylon for SEA BEYOND Collection benefit SEA BEYOND, contributing to the progress of ocean education on a global scale through a series of training initiatives for younger generations.
The third episode is available to view now on prada.com.