Guy Harvey Shark Award Uses Student Art to Put Shark Conservation in Front of the Next Generation

Sharks do not need fairy tales. They need people who understand what they are and how ocean systems actually work.

Wildlife Forever announced the winners of the 2026 Guy Harvey Shark Award, a special division of the Art of Conservation Fish Art Contest sponsored by the Guy Harvey Foundation. Students submitted original artwork of a shark species along with a written piece connected to that species. Winners receive a signed print from Dr. Guy Harvey, and the program is built around using art, STEM learning, marine biology, ecology, and conservation education to get young people thinking seriously about sharks and ocean health.

That matters because sharks sit in a strange place in modern culture. One side turns them into monsters. The other side turns them into untouchable symbols. Neither view is complete. Anyone who fishes offshore, dives, spearfishes, or spends real time around the water knows sharks are powerful predators, important parts of the food chain, and sometimes a very real problem when they become conditioned to boats, hooked fish, or divers with fish on a stringer.

Good conservation has to be honest enough to hold all of that at once. Sharks matter. So do fishermen. So do divers. So do healthy reef and pelagic systems. So does public safety. So does the reality that predator behavior on the water is not something you manage with slogans. You manage it with research, reporting, education, habitat protection, harvest rules where appropriate, and people who are willing to look at the whole picture.

Getting students to study a species before they draw it is a small but useful step. A kid who learns the difference between shark species, what they eat, where they live, how they reproduce, and why some populations struggle is less likely to grow up with cartoon opinions. That is good for the ocean and good for the people who use it.

Hunters and fishermen should support conservation education that stays connected to reality. We do not need more emotion with no field knowledge. We need young people who can respect wildlife without pretending nature is harmless.