Nina Dobrev sinks her teeth into shark conservation

Actress Nina Dobrev hates watching shark films because the big fish are always depicted as monsters of the deep.

A keen conservationist, the Dog Days star is alarmed by the rapidly shrinking shark population - and she blames films like Jaws and The Shallows for making the creatures look like villains.

"We’re on a path to eliminating all sharks, and the media portrays them in such a negative light," she tells Story + Rain magazine. "The movie The Shallows infuriated me. (Star) Blake Lively is talented and beautiful and amazing, but the film portrayed sharks in a way they don’t behave. The fear is unjustified."

Nina is active in saving marine animals as an ambassador for ocean conservation charity Oceana, and she is calling on world leaders to take a stronger stance to protect the environment.

"Legislation needs to change to protect animals," she says. "If one nation like the U.S. or China were to change their policies, that would be a huge win, and it would set an example for other countries to follow suit."

Nina has taken part in two documentaries on sharks and ocean conservation through her role as Oceana ambassador in the last few years, and warns that ignorance about changing eco-systems in the ocean could have a major negative impact on daily life and food if humans aren't careful.

"A problem I've found is that we're unaware of the world underwater and can't interact with it as closely, so we don't really see how important the ocean is for us," she explains.

"The fish, the corals, the sharks: it's a big ecosystem that relies on every facet to work. If we kill all sharks, they're at the top of the food chain - it’s a very delicate ecosystem to respect and protect."