When he first began sculpting in 2006, Victor Douieb's motivation was simple: having first swam with a Hammerhead shark in the Sea of Cortez, he wanted to own a small sculpture of one as a memento.

His search for a statuette that he really liked proved fruitless so Victor decided to try and sculpt one for himself. Since then - and more than 20 different sculptures later - he's defined his mission as an artist.

"First, " he says, "I want people to see the beauty of these creatures, whether they are marine animals or wildlife - to be able to appreciate how wondrous these animals truly are, and hopefully to see the elegance of their motion. But then, my hope is that once people do recognize their wonder, we will stop killing them.

Deeply concerned about the rate at which entire species of life on our planet is rapidly and permanently disappearing, Victor is determined to use his art as a kind of voice for creatures who have few advocates working on their behalf.

"I don't want my sculptures to be the only way that our grandchildren can experience these creatures, long after they've become extinct, simply because we fear them or love them so much that we overfish the oceans in order to possess them."