![]() When did you become aware of this new phenomenon? Sharks are meditaors of the sea and without them everything collapses. I always say what’s more scary than an ocean full of sharks is an ocean without them because every species suffers, including humans. We’re seeing what happens when white sharks aren’t around, every other species is affected – right down to our critically endangered African penguins. There are so many threats and Shark Women is all about that and we’re starting to learn what happens when sharks leave an eco system, they have a very important role. We now have another pressure and it’s huge. So my PHD is on the movement of white sharks but in 2017 I had to change my thesis to include orcas. The show also highlights how important sharks are for the eco-systems and the really alarming new threat they face from orcas. In some regions they’re doing ok such as in developed countries where there are restrictions in place, but in South Africa white sharks just are in decline so it’s doing the sharks injustice if we don’t report on them properly. You just said there how Jaws brought on a mix of fear and fascination with people, with this documentary how important was to encourage people to be fascinated by sharks rather than fear them? Lancashire doesn’t have many sharks to study! So I moved to South Africa in 2007, and on 19 January saw very first white shark. I lost him when I was five so I used to draw pictures of sharks and put them on my window so my dad could see. I had every shark book, I used to type articles and type out facts about sharks and give them out to people but it also connected me to my dad. So my dad had a real fascination with great whites but never actually saw one in South Africa, funnily enough. He wrote it in a very Hemingway-style, it was a story of depression in the north, this boy fishing and catching a huge salmon and it’s the story fo the salmon as well. When I watched it I was definitely under the recommended age, about six or seven, but I was totally unfazed by the blood – just fascinated by the sharksĪnd then my dad lived in South Africa as a journalist and wrote a novel that was never published but I read his novel when I was 11 and it really rang home that marine biology was in the blood. When Jaws came out it illicit two responses from the public – either fear or fascination and for some fear turned into fascination and it made white sharks iconic. So what a pleasure to have the opportunity finally.Īnd where did your fascination with sharks come about? ![]() Not only that but she’s an amazing person anyone who meets her is bowled over immediately. Leigh is an incredible researcher in shark nutrition and Zandlle can hold her breath for four minutes! She’s amazing – Africa’s first female free diving instructor. It’s their coast line, it’s their waters, they’re doing incredible work so that was the idea, to have them in the show but more because of their skill set. There needs to be more representation, particularly to have south African women, that was a big deal for me. So it was very much your ambition to work with an all-female team on this? I’ve been lucky enough to work on shark shows for many years but it’s always been with male co-hosts. That’s how this came about, I heavily pitched this idea and that’s how it came forward. ![]() How insane is that? She’s South African and lives in the water more than she lives on land. Then Zandile came to this town hoping to see white sharks – we were able to show Zandile her first ever white shark together.
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