Who hasn’t marvelled at the beautiful ragged tooth sharks cruising around the display at the Two Oceans Aquarium? Thousands of children are enthralled by them – and probably the first shark they have ever seen up close.
Deen Hill from the Two Oceans Aquarium was the most recent guest speaker at the regular marine evenings held by the Marine Dynamics group of companies at the Great White House.
Deen has a solid aquatic upbringing in the nature loving community of Noordhoek and is as comfortable in the ocean as he is on land.
Facts about ragged tooth sharks: They are also called grey nurse sharks in Australia and as sand tiger sharks in the USA. They are found in sea temperatures of between 16° to 26⁰C in the Atlantic, Indian and Western Pacific oceans.
In South Africa they are common along the eastern and southern coasts, occurring as far west as False Bay, and live for about 30 years, with a length of approximately 2.2m. The status of the South African ragged-tooth shark population is currently listed as ‘vulnerable’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Local company, Marine Dynamics has enjoyed a partnership with the aquarium for many years and Wilfred Chivell, founder, closed the meeting with special thanks to Two Oceans Aquarium for their generous R100 000 donation to the African Penguin and Seabird Sanctuary last year.
