RODNEY FOX SHARK DIVE Port Lincoln in South Australia is one of the premier places in the world to depart from for dive locations if you want to witness huge Great White Sharks in their element. Feared around the world the Great White is a sight to behold and Chris joins a number of them, including some huge females, from the safety of a cage, both on the surface and on the ocean floor. He is joined by shark expert Andrew Fox, the son of Rodney Fox, who survived a mauling at the teeth of a Great White decades ago and created the world s first shark cage dive.
ABOUT THE RONDEY FOX DIVE EXPERIENCE SURFACE AND OCEAN FLOOR DIVING Diving with Great White Sharks is what Rodney Fox Adventures and Expeditions are all about. The wonder and excitement of being in the water with these amazing creatures is indescribable. Rodney Fox Shark Expeditions gives you much more dive time more time to immerse yourself in the world of the Great White Shark. Each dive schedule is planned on a daily basis, taking into account weather conditions and the type of diving experiences our guests have signed up for. If you re a Surface Cage novice (as most guests are) there s no rushing or cajoling just encouragement and care. Rodney Fox Expeditions are the only tour operator that has Qualified Dive Professionals to help you through every aspect of your dive, including accompanying SCUBA divers in the Ocean Floor Cage. Surface Cage The surface cage holds four divers comfortably. You enter the steady, super-strong cage from the lower platform of Dive Deck, and are completely safe at all times. Then the fun, excitement and pure adrenalin rush of the Great White Shark experience comes to life.
These magnificent animals are mesmerising and majestic, and glide effortlessly around and below the cage. Surface Cage diving is available on all our tours, and suitable for anyone above the age of 8. Ocean Floor Cage The Rodney Fox Shark Expeditions is the ONLY TOUR IN THE WORLD that has Ocean Floor Cage Diving. Anchored off the Neptune Islands, up to three guests and a Dive Professional descend approximately 20 metres (66ft) into a world that will captivate and spell-bind a blue aquarium of rocky outcrops teeming with reef fish, white sand and swaying sea-grasses, laconic giant Blue Groupers, elegant stingrays and a watchful assortment of sharks. And, of course, the Great White that appears out of the blue and sweeps gracefully towards, over and around the cage. It is amazing! To experience this awesome spectacle, a SCUBA diver must have PADI Open Water (or equivalent) certification. ABOUT RODNEY FOX Rodney Fox was born in Adelaide, South Australia in 1940. Rodney first learnt to swim in a neighbours water tank as a boy. He became the South Australian Spear Fishing Champion in 1962, and married the love of his life, Kay in 1963. In 1963, four months after his marriage, while defending his state championship Spear Fishing title, he was attacked by a Great White Shark off Aldinga Beach, 50km south of Adelaide. The events of Rodney s attack are unbelievable, and detailed in Rodney s book Sharks, the Sea and Me The fact that Rodney survived is amazing, and was due to an incredible set of events that aligned fortuitously in his favour. To this day, the attack is regarded as one of the most severe ever to be survived. In total, Rodney had 462 stitches in his chest, and 92 in his right hand and arm. Rodney s rehab centred on overcoming his fear, getting fit and, eventually, to return to the sea. To strengthen and test his badly pierced lung and chest, he went free-diving in the clear, fresh-water sink holes in Mount Gambier (where there were no sharks). Exactly one year after his attack, he entered the Australian Spear Fishing Championships in Victoria where he top scored in three of four events.
The inspiration to build a shark cage came from a visit to Adelaide Zoo. Rodney and Kay, accompanied by their small niece, were looking at the caged lions man-eaters in their own right. Instantly he came up with the idea of reversing the role. He would build a steel cage, lower it over the side of the boat and get in the cage to safely view and film the Great Whites he would see for himself if they deserved their vicious reputation. This was the first time Great White Sharks had been filmed underwater. It was a turning point in Rodney Fox s life. He discovered Great Whites were not crazy man-eaters, but fascinatingly cautious creatures. They preferred the bait (to the man in the cage). Rodney, Ron and Valerie s film, Attacked By A Killer Shark, was a great success and shown in many countries of the world. A few years later, they were approached by Steven Spielberg s production team to film the live footage on his blockbuster, JAWS. The film and the footage put South Australia on the world shark map. Today, South Australia remains the global home of Great White Shark cage diving. In 1976, shortly after JAWS was released, Rodney received a request from an American dive travel company wanting to bring their clients on a Great White shark expedition. Rodney happily obliged, and it became the world s first Shark Cage Tour the first of very many as it turned out. ABOUT ANDREW FOX Andrew Fox was born to a life of sharks. Even as a baby, he was party to the many planning sessions his father, Rodney, was having making the first ever documentaries filming Great White Sharks. His early years were set to a backdrop of film crews, the sea and shark footage. The oldest of three children, Andrew was the one who inherited his father s affinity and fascination for sharks. He loved the beach, and spent hours exploring rock-pools. At the age of seven, Rodney took him out on a Shark expedition, much to the dismay of his mother, Kay. Andrew saw his first Great White Shark at night, at the aptly named, Memory Cove he can still picture the torch lit image of the huge head of a large shark lifting above the water to view him, standing up in the boat. After that first encounter, Andrew was hooked, and he spent as much time as he could (usually during school holidays) out on the boat with Rodney, absorbing all he could about these amazing creatures. After he finished high school, Andrew studied Environmental Science at Flinders University (in Adelaide) and began working in On + In Surf Shop, which was part of the family business. Yet, he still took every opportunity to get back into the ocean with the sharks.
After finishing his degree, he focused on running the Shark Tours while conducting research into the behaviour and ecology of the Great Whites. Andrew became adept at observation, identifying things about Great Whites that no-one had previously recorded behaviour, social hierarchy, the way they move, pigmentation variations, breeding habits and even personalities. Today, Andrew can identify (by name) hundreds of individual sharks. It is part of the special affinity he has for these amazing creatures. His keen observation skills led him naturally into photography. His photography and film library is amazing, cataloging nearly 1000 individual sharks. He has spent more time in and under the water filming, photographing and observing great whites than anyone else in the world. In 2001, Andrew and Rodney with Dr. Rachel Robbins established the Fox Shark Research Foundation. It was also the time Andrew began taking over the helm from his father, and making Shark Tours more of a full-time, tourist experience. The research required funding, and Andrew reasoned the best way to fund it was to offer people an unforgettable liveaboard Great White experience they had pioneered the Surface Shark Cage, and had the only Ocean Floor Shark Cage in the world. It has become a very successful marriage. Each Rodney Fox Shark Expedition is a thrilling encounter with sharks and the world they live in, but it is also a Research operation. Every trip, Andrew observes or learns something new his little boy s fascination burns brightly in the man. Andrew is a recognised, globally, as a leading authority on Great White sharks. WEBLINKS http://www.rodneyfox.com.au http://www.visitportlincoln.net