They call it Baited Remote Underwater Video (BRUV). In short, it’s a camera tied to a bait ball and thrown into the sea. With this small, cheap device, Meaghen McCord, founder of South Africa Shark Conservancy (SASC), is showing thousands there is more to the ocean floor than seaweed and sand. Despite this interest, McCord, the energetic researcher of the deep, paints a bleak picture of the ocean. “Blue fin tuna, there is only two per cent of their viable population left on the planet. Big sharks – we’re facing a big level mass extinction event in the next 40 years in the oceans. The problem with that is we don’t know how that is going to affect us. It’s a tipping point and we’re there,” she says.
We stand on the edge of a rock pool at low tide. The water is crystal clear, the seagulls are cawing and the seaweed is fresh - the last place you would expect to grab a bite to eat. For Roushana Gray, a coastal forager in a giant floppy hat, a new moon and the low tide means lunch. "People always have these preconceived ideas that seaweed is slimy and revolting and how can you possibly think of eating it? It's nice to change their minds a bit," she says.
On August 3 2016, South Africa faces a severe test of its fragile democracy when it goes to the polls for municipal elections that could give ruling African National Congress a bloody nose. Even stalwarts of the struggle say they're not happy; including Dennis Goldberg. "Perceptions are important in politics. I have to say President Zuma has played a heroic role in developing the country. In a discussion he is fluent and his ideas are fluent...Now, I believe sadly, this circle around him is stealing the democracy of our people."
