February 2025

Toothy grins and southern charm await visitors to the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher, where two sand tiger sharks glide through a 235,000-gallon habitat. This charismatic species is the star of the Aquarium’s 2025 spring marketing campaign “Shrimp and Grins,” drawing attention to a vulnerable species that in some parts of the world is critically endangered.

“Celebrating the sand tiger shark in our spring marketing campaign is important to the mission of the Aquarium,” said Deyanira Romo Rossell, Aquarium communications manager. “Saving this majestic creature is one of the conservation initiatives for our team, and by giving them a starring role, we can truly engage the community in how critical they are to ocean health.”

Sharks are diverse, intriguing, mysterious and powerful, and they play a vital role in keeping the ocean healthy and in balance. Yet their populations are threatened by overfishing. The overwhelming conservation threat arises from destructive fishing practices. Inadequate governance and ineffective fisheries management are enabling the depletion of populations across the world ocean.

The “Shrimp & Grins” campaign will go on the road – running on buses and billboards in the state. The community is encouraged to follow the Aquarium’s social media pages to find out more about their sand tiger shark conservation work.