South Africa
At the end of May of 2016, I got accepted into an internship that promotes shark conservation, with hands on work. White Shark Africa is based in Mosselbaai, South Africa, and for two months I had learned many things, such as how to present, how to brief safety, and basic seamanship, while traveling on the weekends, and most notably seeing the Great White Shark for the first time. It was truly a life changing experience and I highly recommend White Shark Africa (WSA). To find out more, click on the logo below!
Sharks
Now my job as an intern, besides briefing the clients, helping the clients into and out of the cage, was to assist in identifying the sharks by photographing their dorsals. Considering the equipment I had, I did the best I could, some images helped while others helped to build my own portfolio of capturing Great White Sharks on the surface (limited equipment). Fair WARNING: Images presented do not represent the natural behavior of these animals, they are chasing a bait line.
Wildlife
Besides sharks, there was plenty of wildlife all around. We went to Cape Town the first weekend, followed by attending a safai at Schotia Safaris, and lastly a weekend of shark dives in Durban with the Aliwal Dive Center & Lodge, a great operation and highly recommended. Phenomenal time, seeing live bands, wildlife, staying at the bush camp with the lions during the safari, and walking alongside elephants....I sure do miss it.
I was one of 6 interns in June, and one of 11 in July. I was only supposed to stay a month, but it worked out that I could stay another month. I meant many people, from all over from Australia to Belgium, to people from the USA. The crew was one of a kind, I loved working with them and helping them out with research projects or just plain working on the boat. I learned a lot.