Dr Sara Andreotti is a marine biologist specialising in shark research. She is a lecturer extraordinaire at Stellenbosch University Department of Botany and Zoology and co-founder of The SharkWise Project. She has been developing a management and conservation plan for great white sharks since 2009.

Sara also co-founded SharkSafe Barriers (Pty) Ltd, to provide an eco-friendly and shark-specific technology to keep swimmers and surfers safe from large predatory sharks, without impacting the marine environment. She is one of the four co-inventors of the SharkSafe BarrierTM: a patented technology that successfully bio-mimics the visual effects of a thick kelp forest, combined with a shark-deterrent permanent magnetic field.

Walter Bernardis is the founder and operator of African Watersports, an internationally renowned dive centre based in Umkomaas. Walter has been diving with large sharks for over 4 decades and has spent his life advocating for shark conservation and the preservation of all marine life. 

Walter is well known for using the tonic immobility technique to remove hooks from the mouths of sharks. He is considered a pioneer of shark diving, the sardine run and Nile crocodile diving in the Okavango delta. Walter has also featured in several international documentaries, that focused on changing people’s perception of sharks.