Steve Benjamin - zoologist, marine guide, skipper and scientific commercial diver - is the man behind Animal Ocean. Fueled by a life-long love affair with the underwater world, he has spent years trying to fully immerse himself in the what the ocean has to offer: diving, surfing and seeking encounters with its charismatic inhabitants. His passion, experience and knowledge place him in a unique position to guide inspiring expeditions in Cape Town’s waters.
Tracing his fascination with the sea back as far as he can remember, his determination to make the ocean his life was cemented when, as a wide-eyed ten year old, Steve joined the junior volunteer program at the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town. Many years (and lots of surfing trips, dive expeditions and ocean adventures later), he completed a BSc at UCT in Zoology, capped with his Honours degree in Ichthyology at Rhodes University.
Steve plunged into the world of marine guiding when, in 2008, he joined Mark Addison’s company, Blue Wilderness. As the underwater guide and skipper, he quickly learnt to get professional photographers and recreational divers in on the action with an array of South Africa’s most beautiful sharks, from Tiger sharks to Blacktips, Raggedtooth and Bull sharks. The position also gave him a chance to actively educate against the deadly shark nets, managing on several occasions to cut a few shark out of the nets.
Temporarily trading the warm waters of Aliwal Shoal and its sharks for the Eastern Cape’s rugged Wild Coast and tumultuous waters, Steve led expeditions for Blue Wilderness on the Sardine Run in 2008 and 2009. As skipper in 2008, he made sure that Didier Noirot and Rodger Horrocks were in position to capture footage for the BBC’s “Nature’s Great Events – The Greatest Shoal on Earth”.
2009 and 2010 led Steve to the southern tip of Africa, guiding a series of “Ultimate shark” dives. The temperate waters brought new encounters with sharks, and he got divers close to the regal Great White shark, without the confines of a cage.
Steve launched his own company, Animal Ocean, in 2009. Since then, he has worked on diverse marine projects with top wildlife photographers, filmmakers and freedivers from around South Africa and the world.
The Animal Ocean vessel is an 8 m 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.
