Alex Antoniou, Ph.D.: Founder and CEO
Dr. Antoniou began his shark conservation path in 1994 as the Director of Field Operations for the Shark Research Institute based in Princeton, New Jersey. He was the first to tag whale sharks in the Caribbean with satellite transmitters, tracking the sharks thousands of miles and to great depths of the Gulf of Mexico. He is currently working as the volunteer CEO for Fins Attached, which he founded in 2010. He has had a passion for shark research and conservation for over 25 years.
Dr. Antoniou has had projects in Honduras, Baja California, the Galapagos, Costa Rica, Malpelo Island, Guadalupe Island, and the Revillagigedo Islands. On October 28, 1999, Dr. Antoniou met with 50 Honduran government officials to ask for protection for whale sharks in their waters. After reviewing data provided, the Honduran government decreed the whale shark a protected species their territorial waters. Passage of this law made Honduras the first nation in the Caribbean to protect whale sharks.
In 2002 Dr. Antoniou attended the CITES CoP12 in Santiago Chile where the whale shark had been proposed for Appendix II listing. Alex spoke in front of all delegates providing data to convince member nations to vote in favor of the listing, which they did. This was followed by attending CITES CoP16 in Bangkok, where the hammerhead sharks, giant manta rays, and porbeagle sharks achieved appendix II listings.
In 2016 Dr. Antoniou lobbied a grocery store chain headquarters in Colorado to remove all products containing shark ingredients off their shelves. The store was Natural Grocers. A total of seven items were removed from sale. Fins Attached has also been involved in advocacy work. In March of 2017 a position statement was submitted to NOAA Fisheries to lobby for the Oceanic Whitetip shark to be placed on the US Endangered Species list, which occurred.
Over the past thirty plus years, Dr. Antoniou has established strong partnerships with scientists around the world. In recognition for his dedication towards shark conservation, Alex was awarded the 2017 “Shark Guardian of the Year” award from the Shark Project of Germany.
In 2022, Dr. Antoniou spearheaded the creation of an ocean coalition called, One Ocean Worldwide Coalition, comprising of Fins Attached, The Rob Stewart Sharkwater Foundation, For the Oceans Foundation and United Conservationists. The equation is simple, Save Sharks + Save our Oceans = Save Us.