Left and right are Oliver Jewell and Brenda du Toit from Dyer Island Conservation Trust, with Ozzy Osman, one of the final contestants in the MasterChef series

On Tuesday, 3rd September 2013, the internationally acclaimed MasterChef series broadcast their visit to the Dyer Island Conservation Trust on M-Net at 19h30. Ozzy Osman, a 22 year old accounting student from Johannesburg, was one of the final five contestant. In this episode - aptly named “End of the Month Challenge” - the final five faced a near empty pantry of odd unmatched ingredients, with which they magically had to conjure up a feast. Ozzy’s day started with a visit to the DICT headquarters in the Great White House in Kleinbaai, where Brenda Du Toit and Oliver Jewell welcomed him and introduced the projects, aims and objectives of the DICT. From here Ozzy was afforded a marine eco excursion with Dyer Island Cruises onboard of the Whale Whisperer – taking him around Dyer Island – an important bird area hosting the endangered African Penguin and a breeding area for over 26 different bird species. Amazing views of the marine wildlife greeted Ozzy, as well as a wonderful stopover at the Marine Dynamics shark cage diving vessel Slashfin, to catch a glimpse of the iconic Great White Shark. This has been one of his lifelong dreams and he fell instantly in love with these amazing creatures. Once back on dry land Ozzy received a MasterClass lesson from Chef Karnan Munsamy, acclaimed executive Sous Chef from The Marine Hotel – part of The Collection by Liz McGrath. A gorgeous venue at the Kleinbaai tidal pool was gracefully made available by the Overstrand Municipality. This was also great publicity for our Gansbaai Area. Sustainable fisheries has taken a spot in the limelight of late, with a big focus on conserving fish species which have suffered great losses – facing an imminent threat of depletion if there is no immediate action taken to address overfishing and exploitation. Hosting MasterChef South Africa, an amateur reality cooking competition, opened the platform to showcase to local as well as national cuisine connoisseurs that there is a sustainable fish species that can be used instead of threatened SASSI red or orange listed pelagic fish. The DICT would like to thank the Overstrand Municipality for their assistance with the organization of the area for this wonderful showcase.
Alouise Lynch, Operations Manager: DICT