Two brown shy harks were trapped in a rock pool during the summer of 2012. The pools were getting uncomfortably hot during mid-day and no fresh water was washing in during high tide. Having watched this situation develop over a few days I decided to attempt a rescue. My first attempt failed as my equipment was hopelessly inadequate to the task, but the next day I was back with some cloth bags, the largest oblong bucket I could find and a sturdy pair of garden gloves, This time I got them both caught and released into the open water. What I still fail to understand is what they were doing so high up on the rocks that cool sea water could not reach them. Was this someone’s idea of a fish tank? Or was it simply a freak high tide that washed them in there and left them stranded? Getting the shots taken through the water’s surface, and yet still giving the impression in the photograph of how frantically they were swimming around in the hot water, became a tricky balancing act of the polarising filter. I like the shot shown above because the golden eye is eerily visible and the ripples on the water convey the movement of the trapped creature continually swimming in search of escape.
This photograph gives a sense of the sheer length of the shark
I still wonder about them and their story.
Hannelie de Klerk 