Cristina Zenato is an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

-born shark diver and conservationist. She is known for her work with Caribbean reef sharks in

The Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the ar ...

Early life

Zenato was born in Italy in 1971. Her father was a special forces military diver. She was raised in the Congo until she was 15. She completed high school in Italy.

Career

Zenato began training as a dive instructor and working with sharks in 1995. The same year, she began working for Underwater Explorer's Society (UNEXSO). Later, she became both a PADI Course Director and NSS-CDS Cave Diving Instructor with UNEXSO. Zenato's cave diving projects have included remapping the underwater caves in the Lucayan National Park. Zenato was inducted into the Women Divers Hall of Fame in 2011. She is known for promoting the conservation of, diving with, removing fish hooks from Caribbean reef sharks around Grand Bahama Island. Her work has garnered her the titles of "shark whisperer". Zenato has been featured in numerous films and television programs including

Shark Week Shark Week is an annual, week long TV programming block at the Discovery Channel, which features shark-based programming. Shark Week originally premiered on July 17, 1988. Featured annually, in July or early August, it was originally devoted to c ...

's ''Sharktacular'', ''Against the Current'', and ''Save This Shark.'' In the late 2010s, she founded the non-profit, People of the Water.

Personal life

Zenato first went to the Bahamas in 1994, during which time she decided she wanted to move there permanently.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zenato, Cristina 1971 births Living people Cave diving explorers Professional divers Italian underwater divers Shark conservation