South Africa's Shark Spotters

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03:48

Monwabisi Sikweyiya and his team of shark spotters are part of a unique program that has been mediating between humans and sharks along the coasts of Cape Town, South Africa, ensuring the safety of both species.

"Shark attacks are still taken lightly. People have that attitude that 'It won't happen to me'," said Sikweyiya. "I tell you, it can happen to anybody" he added.

Sikweyiya was the first spotter to have patrolled the city's beaches, he now heads a team on shark spotters. When on duty, he always keeps a vigilant watch on the deep blue. The waters around Cape Town are known for their astounding beauty, attracting surfers and swimmers from all over the world. But they are also home to one of the largest concentrations of great white sharks in the world.

"The shark spotting program started back in 2004 after a young surfer was bitten by a shark," Sikweyiya said. "Muizenberg beachfront became a ghost town. People just didn't want to come and surf in Muizenberg."

Sikweyiya's team that now has 29 members, uses four different colored flags as part of an early warning system for people heading to the sea.

"Green flag, that's good spotting conditions. Black flag, that's poor spotting conditions. A red flag, a high chance of a shark in the area, or there's been a sighting and the shark has moved forward."

Protecting humans isn’t the only objective of the team. Understanding the marine predators is an important task as well.

"Large sharks grow and reproduce slowly, and are vulnerable to exploitation. In many cases they are fished out, faster than they can reproduce," reads the team's official website.

"There's still a lot of work to go because we need to educate the local community about the program and sharks," Sikweyiya said.