Lead safety diver, Cera-Jane Catton, accompanied Roving Reporters director, Fred Kockott, on a shark dive at Aliwal Shoal on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast in preparing for The Wild Swim along a 22km stretch of the Wild Coast earmarked for heavy minerals mining.
The Wild Swimaims to raise R250,000 for eco-tourism in the area, marine conservation and associated environmental journalism training.
Photos: Blue Wilderness Shark Adventures
Roving Reporters, director Fred Kockott eases into his first shark dive
. . .under the watchful eye of Jess Escobar, the owner and lead guide at Blue Wilderness Shark Adventures
A pack of Black Tips converge on the chum on the surface
Kockott heads through the pakck
and gets his head knocked out the water by the dorsal fin of shark entering the frame of this pic
Conditions were perfect for close up encounters
Sharks circling the baited drum
This fella is named Smiley for good reason. He suffered a broken jaw and is now incapable of closing his mouth. This, as Kockott soon discovered, makes it look like he is always moving in for a bite!
He’s very sporty and curious shark, too!
This is how Smiley’s mouth would normrally look if he did not have a perpetual grin.
It;s amazing how quickly one learns to relax when one realises the presence of sharks does not mean imminent danger.
The Blue Wilderness team are amazing folk to spend time with
All the Blue Wilderness shark dives get captured on GoPro camera, resulting in truly amazing videos to treasure.
The Wild Swim lead safety diver, Cera-Jane Hatton stays calm and composed even when it comes to cheek to cheek shark encounters
