Shark protection

Oceana reports success on one front and asks for help on another:

When we told you that the Vermont Country Store was selling a cosmetic product known as "squalane"obtained from shark liver oil, thousands of you contacted the store. Thanks to you, they stopped selling the product. But WaveMakers didn't just flood the inbox of the Vermont Country Store, many of you also wrote to us -- furious about beauty care supplier Dr. Susan Lark and her enthusiastic promotion of products containing squalane from sharks. Well, you spoke up and we listened! We asked her nicely and made little progress. Now it's time to get Dr. Lark to change her ways. . . .

On her website, Dr. Lark touts squalane for its ability to help skin "maintain its moisture and elasticity." She goes on to say that "the very best source comes from deep-sea Centrophorus sharks that live in the clean, non-polluted waters of Tasmania."

If Dr. Lark is such a fan of squalane - she can find it in a much more abundant source: olives. I'm willing to bet that her customers would prefer using moisturizers from olives instead of sharks. . . .

Tell Dr. Lark she ought to leave deep-sea sharks alone. The health - and beauty - of our oceans depends on it.