Dirk Schmidt developed a passion for sharks from the early age of 10, and by the age of 16 he had compiled his own shark dossier of over 500 pages on apex shark behavior and biology.

Over the years, Dirk’s passion for sharks continued to grow, and since then, he’s written and published 4 nature books including “Surfing the Cape of Storms” in 2008, “Great Whites of False Bay” in 2009 (a world first on breaching White sharks), “The Penguins of Boulders” in 2010 (a book on the endangered African Penguin), and in late 2011, “WHITE SHARKS – magnificent, mysterious, and misunderstood” published by Jonathan Ball Publishers. This latest book includes some of his award winning photographic images, and which has been reviewed on one of South Africa’s premier nature television channel SABC2’s 50/50.

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Currently, Dirk is working on a third book on white sharks to include some of his latest findings and current research on white shark behavior, highlighting white shark areas of the USA, Mexico and Australia, and marine conservation issues affecting sharks and rays. Both “Surfing the Cape of Storms” and “The Penguins of Boulders” are expected to be re-published as 2nd editions due to popular demand.

Dirk’s first public foray into television was in 2011, for the Discovery Channel – Shark week program, “How sharks hunt – an anatomy of an attack” (aired August 2011) where he consulted as a on-camera expert concerning white shark attack and predatory behavior. He has held numerous speaking engagements, and his work is recognized having contributed significantly to understanding white shark behavior within the scientific and shark community, developing new insights and understandings in shark behavior and attack profiling by many of his peers. He is a qualified Dive master with over 1,100 dives to his credit, and his motto is: ‘We cannot conserve nor protect something we do not understand.’

An interview with Dirk Schmidt will follow soon – please enjoy his beautiful photos and take a moment to learn more about the behavior of these beautiful animals.