Julie Andersen is an activist and a founder of Shark Angels, a

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

focused on

shark conservation Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimo ...

Biography

Andersen has been interested in ocean life since she was young; she started diving in 1995. For more than 14 years, she worked in advertising in Chicago and owned a successful marketing business that worked with clients such as

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...

and

Citibank Citibank, N. A. (N. A. stands for " National Association") is the primary U.S. banking subsidiary of financial services multinational Citigroup. Citibank was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, and later became First National City ...

. In 2007, at a film screening in New York, she met director Rob Stewart. Within months, she sold her agency, her car, and her house and moved to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

to become a shark conservationist. The same year, she founded the non-profit Shark Angels and swam with

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) is a non-profit, marine conservation activism organization based in Friday Harbor, Washington, Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, Washington, in the United States. Sea Shepherd employs direct action t ...

Executive Director Kim McCoy and

Save Our Seas Foundation The Save Our Seas Foundation is a Philanthropy, philanthropic organization committed to protecting the world’s oceans. It was founded in Geneva, Switzerland, on 23 September 2003. Focusing primarily on charismatic threatened wildlife (end ...

Head Field Biologist Alison Kock to push back on the idea that sharks are vicious, maneating creatures. The foundation of Shark Angels was inspired by the horrors of the shark finning industry; since then, she has gone undercover in more than 20 countries to expose illegal shark fin trade. She has been featured on

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...

, the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...

, Animal Planet, and

NatGeo Wild National Geographic Wild is a Canadian English-language Category B specialty channel owned by Corus Entertainment and National Geographic Global Networks. The channel airs programming devoted to wildlife, nature, and animals. History In April 201 ...

. In 2012, she was named a Sea Hero by ''Scuba Diving Magazine''. In 2014, she and cinematographer Paul Wildman created the short documentary ''Black Swan'', which features Andersen "dancing" with an oceanic white tip shark, considered one of the most dangerous species in the world. Andersen also founded the non-profits Shark Savers and, with Stewart, United Conservationists (UC). One of UC's movements in its early days was #FinFree, which aimed to educate the public about illegal finning. Stewart died in 2017 while filming the documentary ''

Sharkwater Extinction ''Sharkwater Extinction'' is a 2018 Canadian documentary film directed by Rob Stewart. It premiered at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival. A sequel to his 2006 film ''Sharkwater'', the film, which Stewart was working on at the time of h ...

''. Andersen, diver Brock Cahill, and a team of others helped his parents finish and promote the film. Andersen has also been a consultant for the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society,

PEW A pew () is a long bench (furniture), bench seat or enclosed box, used for seating Member (local church), members of a Church (congregation), congregation or choir in a Church (building), church, synagogue or sometimes a courtroom. Overview ...

, and WildAid. She is the Director of Global Marketing for

Johnson Outdoors Johnson Outdoors Inc. () produces outdoor recreational products such as watercraft, diving equipment, camping gear, and outdoor clothing. It has operations in 24 locations worldwide, employs 1,400 people and reports sales of more than $315 million ...

(

SCUBAPRO Johnson Outdoors Inc. () produces outdoor recreational products such as watercraft, diving equipment, camping gear, and outdoor clothing. It has operations in 24 locations worldwide, employs 1,400 people and reports sales of more than $315 million ...

and Subgear brands) and a member of the PADI Diving Society. As of 2018, Andersen is based in California.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Andersen, Julie American conservationists Living people People from Chicago Shark conservation Year of birth missing (living people)