WOMAN CAPTURES STUNNING CLOSE ENCOUNTERS WITH SEA LIFE IN UNDERWATER KELP FORESTS
WITH PIX AND VID
BY SHUK YEE TSANG
An underwater photographer has captured a breathtaking collection of close encounters with marine life, from playful Cape fur seals and graceful manta rays to sharks, dolphins, seahorses and even a whale shark.
Danel Wentzel, an underwater photographer and marine biologist from Cape Town, South Africa, photographed the remarkable animals while diving in the kelp forests around her hometown and during expeditions across southern Africa.
Her collection features curious Cape fur seals, oceanic blacktip sharks, tiger sharks, blue sharks, mako sharks, dusky dolphins, seahorses, manta rays, stingrays, whale sharks and more.
Danel said: "I have spent years beneath the surface of this world and I am still surprised by it.
"If anything, the more I learn, the bigger it all gets.
"The ocean is so vast, so complex, so wildly beyond human control.
"That kind of scale does something to your ego. It makes you small in the best possible way.
"The Cape fur seal is one of the most successful marine mammals in our local waters.
"These are oceanic blacktip sharks, and no, they aren't a threat to humans. I'm actually kind of offended by how little these sharks have been paying attention to us.
"Watching manta rays move through the water with those incredible wing-like fins is just breathtaking."
ENDS
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