7 News Belize

January Jones's Jaunt at Gladden
posted (May 8, 2010)

January Jones is an American actress popular for her role in the series Mad Men. But she is also a celebrity spokes person for Oceana. She was in Belize all of this week to see the annual passage of whale sharks through Belizean waters.

It happens off Gladden Spit and Jones is a spokesperson for Oceana's Save the Shark Campaign. She got to swim with the massive slow moving creatures which can grow as long as 40 feet and weigh as much as 20 tonnes, and as she told local Oceana Vice President Audrey Matura Shepherd, it was an awe inspiring experience.

January Jones, Hollywood star
"I got to go on amazing trips and interact with these different species of shark. It's been a dream come through for me personally because I not only enjoy it but I loved it. It's brought awareness to the depleting shark populations around the world and it's just something I am very passionate about."

Audrey Matura-Shepherd, VP Oceana
"And how was your experience in Belize? Especially when you got to see your first whale shark."

January Jones, Hollywood star
"It was like nothing… I can't really put into words. It was sort of a religious experience I think just how perfect it all turned out, the fact that I was able to come to a place that I have never been that is so extremely beautiful. On the first day to go down, we weren't sure, there's no guarantees that we would be able to see a whale shark. They are a very elusive animal and we had just left the area and had given up a little bit and we saw one within 20 feet of water. So it was really a perfect situation and to be able to swim with it and just see it that close, it meant a lot to me."

There are 10 species of sharks in Belize's waters according to Oceana.

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