Company : Oyster Worldwide
Location : Close to Cape Town
Duration: 1 week to 3 months
Approx Costs: 1000 to 3000+ £ Pound (UK)
Are you a shark and whale lover? Volunteer on this Oyster programme and you can get up close and personal with them on a daily basis.
This is no 'water park' experience - you will be working with wild sharks and whales as they dominate the ocean surrounding South Africa.
While these magnificent creatures may seem untouchable, they are facing extinction with a huge decline in their population year on year. Dating back 400 million years, sharks are one of the world's oldest living species and we would like to keep it that way!
Our project offers volunteers the chance to observe and monitor sharks both above and below water. By photographing them and recording marks and injuries you will be contributing to crucial scientific research. You will also join educational tourism trips to see the sharks and, helping to shake off the continuing media driven stigma surrounding them, hopefully helping others to start loving and caring about these animals as much as you do!
If that isn't enough of a draw, you can also help out at a penguin rescue centre, assist with beach clean ups and attend lectures. It is a perfect way to learn more about the marine world and help contribute towards its survival.
All year round
Obviously being able to get in the cage and dive with the sharks was one of the best experiences on the trip! As well as this i was able to go out on the research boat and study the personalities of the sharks. it is a great experience, you learn a lot of different life skills as well as a variety of different people from different places.
Be prepared for all types of weather! Also make sure you are very open minded as there is not just stuff to do with sharks out there, you get the chance to help out in the community as well as with other types of marine animals.
I saw sharks and got to jump on the cage as well! This is a really amazing experience. The staff were professional and all incredibly friendly and welcoming and made an effort to get to know all the volunteers even though most of us were there for such a short time. I would definitely recommend this project to anyone with or without a marine biology back ground as being out on the boats and getting to know to crew was really fun as well.
