A couple of weeks ago an Italian film crew came to Mossel Bay to make a documentary on the research that Oceans does. During three days they came out on the boat with us to film us catching sharks for the aquarium, going on chum trips and tagging a shark. As a field specialist I was on the boat to help. First I was chumming and later, when Enrico tagged the shark, I was on bait rope to get the shark close enough to the boat. The Italian film crew left with great footage of the work we do at Oceans Research.
The next week we decided to start tracking the 2.2 meter shark we tagged and because I was on the boat when she was tagged I got to chose her name. A few months before I came back to Oceans I lost one of my friends, so I decided to name the shark after her: Olivia.
For almost 60 hours we tracked Olivia continuously, with the interns working in shifts on the boat. During the day we could sometimes see her when she was hanging out at her favourite spot, Hartenbos and she took us on a few trips to Kleinbrak and Seal Island.
Since the continuous track, we have tracked Olivia a few more times and the interns have become really good at tracking, skippering and taking data. One of the things I learned from my friend passing away is to fulfill my dreams and take every chance for adventure I get. Therefore, I am very happy to be back here to be a part of this research and for having an amazing experience.
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