A UNIVERSITY student from the UK has come to Narooma to further her studies and to dive with sharks and whales.
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Madeleine Dichler is studying Marine and Natural History Photography at Falmouth University, UK with a focus on marine studies and sciences.
Maddy is staying in Narooma for two months, and while here she plans to scuba, snorkel and photograph as much and as often as possible, to support her university studies.
She is an advanced open water diver.
As part of her dissertation, she is focusing on how the "social and political framing of sharks and shark attacks effects the modern development of shark conservation policies".
Maddy came to Narooma to work with local renowned wildlife photographer Jon Poyner and the pair has already had some adventures.
This included experiencing a front moving in quickly while there were out at the continental shelf on Thursday looking for sharks and watching whales.
Also joining them is Jon’s daughter Georgia, 13, who despite still being at school is just as keen on the subjects of wildlife and photography, jumping in the water at every opportunity.
Maddy, Jon and Georgia, when not at school, plan to spend as much time on the water over the next few weeks hoping to spot and even jump in the water with sharks.
So far they have done some filming of the more easy to locate Port Jackson and Wobbegong sharks.
Whale season in full swing
Whale season on the Far South Coast is reaching full swing as the humpback whales swim past on their southerly migration.
Narooma Charters skipper Norm Ingersole said each of his whale watching trips so far this season had sighted whales.
“The very first trip we had a whale breaching 10 metres from the stern of the boat and even on Sunday they were performing well,” he said.
His whale tour contacts in Sydney reckon there could be as many as 20,000 whales heading down the East Coast this season, which would continue to mid-November.
Montague Island accommodation is back on offer after the recent renovations and National Parks is offering special packages in conjunction with the Wild About Whales campaign in an attempt to get more people to come to Narooma and experience the island and the whales.