Get close up and intimate. Swim freely alongside ragged-tooth sharks, spotted gullies, turtles and rays. Come face to face with a multitude of fishes. See the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town, South Africa, from a fish eye view.

The Aquarium offers a unique and exciting opportunity to all qualified scuba divers to dive in the Aquarium’s two main exhibits, the I&J Predator Exhibit and the Kelp Forest.

The I&J Predator Exhibit, containing two million litres of water, is the largest in the Aquarium and is home to five ragged tooth sharks; a variety of rays including a giant short tail ray; a turtle; shoals of yellowtail, garrick (leervis) and other fishes. Qualified divers are able to enter the display without the hindrance of a ‘cage’ and experience thrilling close encounters with the animals as they glide past. Diving in the Predator Exhibit is an adventure which one is not likely to forget in a hurry. “The adrenaline starts flowing before you even enter the water. What makes this so incomparable with diving in the open sea is that you know the sharks are there and that you are going to see them and get close to them,” says one of the Aquarium divers. “You can actually see that they are scrutinizing your every move.”

For those who are fearful of sharks, there is an equally thrilling dive opportunity in the Kelp Forest Exhibit. This display is the second largest and contains 800,000 litres of water. It is one of the best kelp forests on display in the world and is typical of the west coast of South Africa. Whilst divers will definitely see kelp off the coastline, they may not be so lucky to dive through shoals of fishes such as maasbankers and pilchards. The Kelp Forest Exhibit is home to these fishes as well as red roman, red stumpnose, galjoen (the national fish of South Africa) and white stumpnose amongst others. Qualified Advanced divers can feed the multitude of fishes in the Kelp Forest Exhibit. The feed is extremely exciting as the fishes swarm around the diver, clamouring for food.

‘Diving with the sharks’ has been on offer since mid December 1997. The response to this initiative has been phenomenal with thousands of divers from all over the world having braved a rendezvous with the sharks.

Booking is essential and interested parties can contact the Information Desk at the Two Oceans Aquarium on telephone +27-21-418-3823.
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ISSUED BY: Helen Lockhart Two Oceans Aquarium Tel: +27-21-418-3823

Photographic material to accompany this story can be requested from hlockhart@aquarium.co.za