In honour of Shark Awareness Day 2026, Insta360 has launched a global campaign calling on divers to turn their shark encounters into tools for shark and ocean protection by supporting the PADI AWARE Foundation.
For years, divers around the world have used Insta360 cameras to document extraordinary encounters beneath the surface, and this Shark Awareness Day, the company is calling on divers to turn their recorded shark footage into powerful tools for shark conservation.
At the heart of the campaign is a short film featuring four creators from the global Insta360 community, including Emmy-winning wildlife cinematographer Andy Casagrande, shark photographer and politician Ari Rabin-Havt, and shark diver and artist Roy Mauritsen, among others.
The team used Insta360 cameras, including the Insta360 X5 and Insta360 Ace Pro 2, to capture perspectives that few people ever get to experience firsthand, and behaviours many divers will never have experienced before.
By bringing audiences face-to-face with sharks through immersive storytelling – which also includes virtual reality diving with the sharks – Insta360 says it hopes to challenge long-held misconceptions, inspire greater appreciation for sharks, and encourage more people to play a role in protecting them.
‘We’ve always believed that new perspectives have the power to change the way people see the world,’ said Max Richter, Co-Founder and VP of Marketing at Insta360.
‘This campaign is about showing sharks through the eyes of the people who know them best. We hope those stories inspire more people to appreciate these incredible animals and the important role they play in our oceans.’
The new campaign is only part of the story, as past footage already recorded by divers can also contribute to the wider efforts to protect the world’s oceans.
To do this, Insta360 is supporting the PADI AWARE Foundation’s Global Shark & Ray Census (GSRC), one of the world’s largest citizen science initiatives dedicated to sharks and rays.
With 30 per cent of shark and ray species threatened with extinction, there is a lot that scientists don’t know about where sharks spend their time, where they are most likely to be sighted, or where they are being spotted less frequently than before.
Divers around the world, however, have already spent decades documenting underwater life, creating an invaluable archive of footage, photographs and dive logs that can help build a clearer picture of shark and ray populations across the globe.
As part of that effort, Insta360 is encouraging divers to take part in the PADI AWARE Shark & Ray Discovery Challenge, which launches on 2 August 2026.
The challenge invites participants to revisit previous dives and contribute confirmed shark and ray sightings through the Global Shark & Ray Census. All submissions will be verified by researchers at James Cook University.
‘There is a myth that only scientists can do science,’ said Dr Andrew Chin of James Cook University, a leading researcher collaborating with PADI AWARE on the Global Shark & Ray Census.
‘Scientists have worked with divers to describe new species and find places where they didn’t know they existed. The footage and observations sitting on our cameras and SD cards are incredibly valuable.’
This Shark Awareness Day, Insta360 is encouraging divers to look at the moments they’ve captured in a new light. Whether through storytelling or scientific research, every dive has the potential to make a difference.
For more about the PADI AWARE Global Shark & Ray Census, visit PADI’s blog for all the latest information and how to get involved. For more about Insta360 visit www.insta360.com, or follow along on Facebook: @Insta360, X: @insta360, Instagram @insta360 and TikTok @insta360_official
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