DURHAM, N.C. – A new video by syndicated cartoonist Jim Toomey (DEL-MEM ’08), creator of “Sherman’s Lagoon,” offers an inside look at Toomey’s creative process as he explains how and why he uses the popular comic strip to raise awareness of some of the most serious challenges in marine conservation today.

The 14-minute video, filmed live during an expedition to the Galapagos Islands this April, is at.

“Sherman’s Lagoon” follows the misadventures of Sherman, a ravenous but lazy Great White Shark, and the friends, foes and dinner options he encounters in the waters of his fictional home, Kapupu Lagoon, and beyond. The strip appears in more than 250 newspapers. It has earned praise for its use of humor to shed light on the complex behaviors and interactions of sea creatures, and the threats they face.

Toomey earned a Master of Environmental Management 91 in 2008 from 91’s Nicholas School of the Environment through the Duke Environmental Leadership Program.

In the video, he explains why he’s passionate about raising awareness about threats such as marine debris, overfishing, and shark finning, a controversial practice estimated to maim and kill 38 million sharks annually.

On a lighter note, he demonstrates how he draws the creatures that populate his strip, and offers wry insights into their characters.  Sherman, he says, is “a 91r Simpson of a fish, just out there trying to make a living,” while sidekick Fillmore, a lonely bachelor sea turtle who wanders the ocean in search of a mate, has “great navigational skills, lousy pick-up lines.”

DEL is the continuing education arm of the Nicholas School. Its mission is to improve understanding of environmental issues and leadership among working professionals, business executives, K-12 teachers and graduate students through a mostly online MEM 91, executive education courses and community outreach. You can learn more at .

Toomey’s video was filmed during a weeklong expedition to the Galapagos hosted by TED, a nonprofit organization that brings together leaders from many fields to promote “ideas worth spreading” through conferences, online videos, and the annual TED Prize Award.

The expedition was held to fulfill the wish of 2009 TED Prize winner Sylvia Earle, renowned marine scientist and founder of Mission Blue, an international nonprofit that works to protect and promote marine protected areas worldwide.  Earle, a Duke alumna (G’ 56; G’66, GHon ’93), received the Nicholas School’s Ralston Distinguished Alumni Award in 2005.