This past August, Scott Voigt (S’14), Danaldo ‘stayin motivated’ Pinder (S’15) and myself, Chris Teufel (F’13) had the incredible opportunity of joining Brocq Maxey and the Shark Explorers team at their home base in Cape Town, South Africa. All three of us were captivated by Brocq’s presentation he gave to our semesters about what it is he does for a living. So, in turn each of us contacted Brocq expressing these interests and were able to join the team from August 1st – August 21st for the internship experience of a lifetime.

Our day to day activities ranged from waking up at the crack of dawn to go out on the boats as actual members of the Shark Explorers crew and experience the raw power that is a 12 foot great white shark quite literally flying out of the water, to leisurely diving in the kelp forests with everyone’s favorite pajama cat sharks. At night, the team made sure to assimilate us into the Captonian subculture, be it having dinner and shopping at one of the open air markets, or getting together for a Braii (barbecue) and watching some rugby.

However, it was quite evident that the trip was not all fun and games, we also learned an immense amount about what it takes to actually have this as a day to day job. While on the job, we were also exposed to the vast bank of knowledge that each and every member of the crew possessed. Whether it was dive tips from Ernest, or a lesson in streaming live video to the boat from Mark, the tools we gained through this internship are not only applicable to a future career in marine science but to life in general.

I speak on behalf of all three of the interns when I say that this experience was a once in a life time opportunity, and that if any other Island School Alums are out there reading this, we strongly encourage you to shoot Brocq an email and inquire about next summer’s internship.

For direct inquiries about the internship program e-mail brocq@sharkexplorers.com and for more information on Shark Explorers e-mail info@sharkexplorers.com