Meet the Locals

Behind the scenes of BBC Planet Earth 111 in Plett

Join Justin Blake and the BBC Natural History Unit in a presentaion on Plett's remarkable and vibrant ocean, showcased worldwide  in the opening animal scene of Coasts, an episode of Planet Earth 111.  Part of the official Planet Earth III Impact Campaign, Meet the Locals is a collaborative project, founded by Justin, which aims to  illuminate the mysterious lives of the local white sharks. Who are the individual white sharks visiting the area? - Where have the sharks come from? - Where do they go when not in Plett? - How many white sharks are left in the area and South Africa?  The presentation will celebrate, demystify and showcase Plett's great white sharks, enabling the general public to connect with 'the locals' towards an understanding of their movements, and critical role in keeping Plett ocean's healthy. 

Watch the remarkable sequence shot in the Robberg MPA where great whites gather in numbers to prey upon Cape fur seals, and see unscreened B-roll footage from the film shoot, now being used in ongoing shark identification research.

ABOUT JUSTIN BLAKE

Justin is a marine biologist with an undergraduate degree in Icthyology and a masters in marine biology. He has been captivated by the ocean since he can remember. For more than 14 years he has acted as a marine guide for travelers, students, researchers and film crews, to locations ranging from Raja Ampat's coral seas to the Seychelles, Mozambique & the famous Robberg Peninsula, Plettenberg Bay. His passion lies in connecting others with the ocean's creatures through sharing their remarkable stories, uncovered through science. His goal is to spark interest in the creatures living in our blue oceans, and to catalyse human support for ocean conservation.

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