You Can Now Name A Shark & Help Protect It As An NFT
Image via Shutterstock
Some people spend much of their time dreaming up names for their future kids. A small group gets to use these names on real sharks as part of an ocean research and conservation project.
Ocean health nonprofit Beneath The Waves has rolled out a series of NFTs that gives buyers the ability to tag a shark and then watch its activity for a limited time. The jaw-dropping, for lack of a better word, NFT digital art collection is touted as the first-ever to aid ocean science and research.
Each purchase, which ranges between US$1,000 and US$10,000 in price, comes with an animation of a collectible card as well as lets the buyer name a shark and get updates on the time and location that the shark tag was deployed.
Among the 68 unique NFTs include sharks with camera tags for collectors to watch the creatures’ movements for the next 48 hours. There are also some that come with satellite tags for purchasers to track the sharks for a maximum of 180 days.
The first sneak-peek at our #NFT collection for ocean conservation is here... And we can’t wait to show you the rest tomorrow on @Blockparty 🦈🕺🏻😎🌊 pic.twitter.com/VjltMbxXtO
— Beneath The Waves (@beneaththewaves) April 5, 2021
No NFT in this collection can be bought twice, since there’ll only be one tag per shark, as reported by What’s Trending.
The charity previewed the NFTs in Times Square, and within 48 hours, over US$70,000 had apparently been raised as a result of this launch.
Are these the first NFTs to be in Times Square?
— Blockparty (2.0) (@Blockparty) April 7, 2021
Still pieces from the @beneaththewaves collection available at https://t.co/F2Cyc44j1v
Grab a piece and get the chance to name a shark! pic.twitter.com/50cdAumikf
Despite the well intentions surrounding this project, the NFT market in general has its own struggles with maintaining its environmental footprint. Most NFT artists “mint” their work using Ethereum, which emits a considerable amount of carbon dioxide.
With that being said, there are still ways to soften the blow. Platforms like Aerial offer estimates for the volume of carbon emissions made by individual crypto artworks. Users can then purchase offsets to make up the difference, though it is still up to them to take action.
[via What’s Trending and The Hill, cover image via Shutterstock]
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