Last fall, I received an e-mail from a representative of one of my favorite companies: the Asylum, the film studio that brought you such cinematic masterpieces as “MegaShark vs. Giant Octopus,” “MegaShark vs. Crocosaurus,” and, of course, “SharkNado.” Following the spectacular success of SharkNado, they were interested in supporting shark science and conservation. After months of discussion, I am pleased to make an exciting announcement! If you help support a bonus scene in SharkNado 2: the Second One, you’ll also be supporting our lab’s shark conservation research!

Here’s how it works:

The Asylum is crowd-funding a bonus scene in SharkNado 2: the Second One, and to describe it, they wrote “we don’t want to give away too much, but here’s what I can tell you: there will be sharks, chainsaws, and chainsaws being used in the vicinity of sharks. ” If that doesn’t excite you, I don’t know why we’re friends.

They are trying to raise at least $50,000, and are offering some amazing rewards to anyone who donates, including a signed poster, getting to have your scream appear in the film, and even getting a walk-on role!

10% of all funds raised for this crowd-funded bonus scene will be donated to support our lab, the RJD Marine Conservation Program at the University of Miami, and our ongoing shark conservation research! If enough funds are raised, the Asylum will adopt a shark, which you can track (along with all of our other satellite tagged sharks) from this website. 

In short, if you donate to help create an amazing piece of shark pop culture history, you’ll also be supporting important shark conservation research! Learn more about their crowdfunding campaign here.

SharkNado 2: the Second One will air Wednesday, July 30th at 9 p.m. on SyFy!