Steve Benjamin is the man behind Animal Ocean. A Zoologist, Marine guide, skipper and scienific commeriacl diver. After years of persuing big marine animals, in sometime adverse conditions, his knowledge, experience and passion place him in a unique position to guide inspiring expeditions in Cape Town’s waters.
It started at the age of ten, when Steve joined the junior volunteer program at the Two Oceans Aquarium, where he worked for four years. His university career saw him completing a BSc at UCT in Zoology, followed by an honors degree in Ichthyology at Rhodes University.
Steve became involved in marine guiding in 2008 when he joined the pioneering company Blue Wilderness, run by Mark Addison. Here he spent his days and months guiding professional photographers and recreational divers on hundreds of Tiger shark dives. Getting divers close to Tiger Sharks, Bull sharks, Blacktip sharks and Raggedtooth sharks. Here he activly educated against the deadly shark nets, and managed to cut a few shark out the nets.
Apart from the warm water shark diving he lead expeditions for the 2008 and 2009 Sardine Run season for Blue Wilderness. This increadable event took him to South Africa’s Wild Coast to in search of this event. The 2008 season saw him skippering the underwater team of Didier Noirot and Rodger Horrocks, on the 2008 Sardine Run for the blue chip series by the BBC “Natures Great Events”. Which was a great success.
He also lead the 2009 and 2010 season of “Ultimate shark” dives on the Southern tip of Africa, here he explored the sharks of the temperate waters and got divers in close contact with Great White sharks without a cage.
Animal Ocean started in 2009, and Steve has worked on many marine projects with some of the contries and worlds top wildlife photographers, filmmakers and freedivers.
Thomas Peschak – Wildlife conservation photojournalist
Charles Maxwell – Natural history cameraman
Andy Brandy Casagrande IV - Nat Geo cinematographer
Daniel Botehlo – Underwater photographer
Hanli Prisloo – Champion Freediver and Adventurer
Peter Verhoog – CEO Save our Seas foundation
Jean Tresfon – Photographer and Adventurer
Rodger Horrocks – Documentary photographer and Adventurer
Mark Van Coller – Natural history photographer
The Animal Ocean vessel is an 8m Rubber duck, or Rib, with a capacity to hold 14 people. It is wide (3.1m), spacious and provides a very dry ride in normal sea conditions. The boat is powered by a pair of Yamaha 85 hp engines. This boat has showed that it can handle rough seas and is a pleasure to operate, even in the big surf of the Wild Coast.
