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As a Conservationist, Rutzen has provided field support to South Africa's Department of Environmental Affairs.[3] Some of his projects include the deployment of satellite and acoustic tags on great white sharks.[4] Rutzen also holds membership on behalf of the Department with the Whale Disentanglement Network[5], a group of marine experts who assist Whales in distress.[6]
Mike Rutzen prepares to dive with a Great White Shark for a nature documentary.
After high school, Rutzen enlisted in the South African Defence Force (SADF) as a medic in the 115 Battalion. At the age of 20, he became a commercial fisherman in the fishing village of Gansbaai in the Western Cape. In 1993, the shark cage diving industry was established in the area, and Rutzen was the second local skipper to be employed for his specialized seafaring expertise. He spent time interacting with great white sharks from the boat and observing their behavior during this time.[8]
In 1998, Rutzen began free diving with sharks. In 2000, he established the shark cage diving company, Shark Diving Unlimited, in Gansbaai, South Africa.
While in the water with the sharks, Rutzen used his knowledge of animal behavior to understand the sharks' movements and cautiously interact with them. He claims an ability to communicate with the sharks by making his body smaller or larger to attract or deter the animal.[9]
Since 2009, he has supported population dynamics' studies and DNA sampling programs by Dr. Sara Andreotti (Stellenbosch University),[10] where he sponsored and co-authored many white shark behavioral papers.[11][12] One such study claims that South African white sharks belong to one larger interbreeding population, and that some of the same sharks sampled in the southwest coast (False Bay) were identified on the east coast (Algoa Bay). It also established that this particular shark population has extremely low genetic diversity, finding only four mitochondrial lineages, with 89% of the population sharing the same lineage. The study concluded that the South African white sharks have the lowest genetic diversity of any white shark population, putting their long-term survival at risk of extinction due to a higher risk for disease and an impaired ability to successfully reproduce and adapt to change within their environment.[13]
The Sharksafe Barrier
Rutzen is one of the inventors of the Sharksafe Barrier, which purports to prevent negative encounters between sharks and people. The barrier was conceived in 2011 when Rutzen met Dr. Craig O'Connell, a marine biologist. Rutzen had noticed that sharks did not swim through the local kelp forests, even when pursuing cape fur seals. O'Connell, who was working on his PhD project, exploring the use of electrosensory stimuli—such as permanent magnets—to repel sharks, had achieved success, prompting the two to join forces.[14]
The Sharksafe Barrier is made of four rows of large vertical pipes,[15] each fitted with magnets that move with the ocean currents and tides to manipulate the swim patterns of sharks. These magnets overstimulate the unique electrosensory system of Elasmobranchii (i.e. sharks, skates, and rays), known as the Ampullae of Lorenzini, which detect electromagnetic fields. These are associated with hunting prey and may also be capable of detecting geomagnetic fields(0.25-0.65 Gauss) to orient the sharks during long migrations. This makes the Sharksafe Barrier specific to Elasmobranchii so other marine animals can swim through it without issue.
The Sharksafe Barrier is currently undergoing final scientific and technical testing ahead of its first beach deployment.
Media presence from 2005–present
Rutzen's first documentary, National Geographic's Beyond Fear, was released in 2005. It described shark behavior and body language and showed Rutzen free diving with Great White Sharks without a cage. The film was shown internationally on the National Geographic Channel.
In 2007, Rutzen's Discovery documentary "Sharkman"[17] was aired. Rutzen developed the storyline by visiting notable shark experts in their fields. He learned one form of tonic immobility from Dr. Samuel Gruber and another from Christina Zenato, a behavior which would lead him to the initial idea for the Sharksafe Barrier later on.[18][19]
Sharkman became a staple of Discovery Channel's Shark Week for over ten years. In 2009, Rutzen was featured as the "Sharkman" on 60 Minutes with Anderson Cooper on CBS. Rutzen then joined with BBC Natural World to develop The Great White Shark: A Living Legend (2008-2009), in which Rutzen visited a popular seal hunting area to understand white sharks better.[20] He later hosted Shark Night on Discovery French TV (2010).[21]
Rutzen was featured as a shark expert in the IMAX 3D film, Great White Shark 3D (2010)[22], which was filmed in his hometown of Gansbaai and featured underwater and aerial footage. The film was screened in IMAX theatres internationally.
Also in 2010, Rutzen acted as a stunt double and shark behavior expert for Halle Berry's character in the Warner Brothers film, Dark Tide, which was filmed in Gansbaai and based loosely on Rutzen's life experiences.[23] Rutzen was also featured as the 'Sharkmaster' on Stan Lee's Superhumans, which investigated his claims that he could indeed interact and communicate with great white sharks using body language.[24]
In a 2012 interview, Rutzen noted that great white sharks "were not the mindless killing machines out to hunt us" portrayed in horror films.[25] He was featured in Linge De Fronte (French TV) "Alerte aux requin" (2013).[26]
On 13 May 2017, he was part of the team that broke the Guinness World Records title for the 'Longest Underwater Live Radio Broadcast' in the Ambassador Lagoon aquarium in Dubai's Atlantis, The Palm hotel.[27]
Personal life
Rutzen currently lives in Gansbaai, South Africa and Tofino Beach in Mozambique[28] with his two Mozambican beach dogs, wife, and daughter.[29]
In 2016, he was badly injured in a car crash in Mozambique which took the life of his Italian girlfriend.[30]
Achievements
Rutzen won a Lifetime achievement award at the Tourfilm Festival Prague (2012) for his contribution to extending human boundaries with respect to the world's oceans and his pioneering work with sharks.[31] He was awarded the Princeton Global Network Registry Member of the Year (2012)[32] and the Mayoral Award for Conservation - Overstrand District, South Africa (2015).[33]
Rutzen regularly delivers marine conservation and scientific talks to promote the preservation of the great white shark internationally. He often shares his views on responsible shark management, conservation, and the threats to the ocean. He also presents findings from his scientific field research on the great white shark.[34]
↑ O'Connell, Craig P.; Andreotti, Sara; Rutzen, Michael; Meӱer, Michael; He, Pingguo (2014). "The use of permanent magnets to reduce elasmobranch encounter with a simulated beach net. 2. The great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias)". Ocean & Coastal Management. 97: 20–28. Bibcode:2014OCM....97...20O. doi:10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2012.11.006.
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