An amazing woman's incredible lifelong journey into the world of Sharks.

As a very young teen in 1970, I saw Valerie Taylor, her late husband Ron and fellow Australian Rodney Fox for the first time, in the classic documentary "Blue Water, White Death." I was already hooked to the beauty of the underwater world, but it was here that these 3 inspired my love for Sharks and I followed in their footsteps with my lifelong fight to protect these magnificent creatures.

In the new epic documentary Playing With Sharks, Valerie takes us on an amazing journey into her own teen years as a spearfishing champion, her romance with the sea and also with Ron, who made her his underwater model and later his wife. We see the couple embarking on an expedition that changed their lives forever. From spearfishing champions, they soon became world famous for their filming and production of underwater documentaries.


The Taylors travelled around the world filming sharks and educating the general public about the huge misconception that these awesome creatures are mindless killing machines in a time when sharks were labelled as Man-eaters following the release of "Jaws". They became protectors and defenders of our oceans and the creatures that live in it.


Their hard work soon started giving rewards as Australia became the first country in the world to protect the Grey Nurse Shark (Carcharias taurus). This was later followed by conservation measures for: the Potato Cod (Grouper) and Cod hole, The Sea lions, the Coral Sea bird breeding islands, the main breeding grounds of the Southern Right Whales becoming a marine reserve and also protection of the Great White Shark.

This amazing woman's incredible lifelong journey is not over yet as Valerie, now 85, and following Ron's death in 2012, is still involved in conservation issues and still dives to spend time surrounded by and Playing With Sharks.

Thank you Valerie for showing me, and the world, the truth about these magnificent and misunderstood creatures.

Tributes To Ron Taylor.

This past week, the world is still mourning the sad departure of a true gentleman. All over the International media and the Internet, tributes to Ron Taylor can be found. 

Whilst reading some of the blogs, I came across two that I would like to share with you.

My friend David Diley's wrote a wonderful contribution here. It seems that David and myself share the exact feelings and we both saw Ron as our Inspiration and our Hero.  

Another good friend of mine also posted on here and here.  Mike was very close to Ron and they have dived together on many occasions. 

Thanks for sharing guys. 

Farewell My Friend: Ron Taylor 9 Sept. 2012

I have just heard the sad news. I am still in disbelief. Ron Taylor has sadly passed away after a long fight with   Leukaemia. He was 78.

Ron, together with his wife Valerie, beside being world famous Underwater Film makers / photographers was also a pioneer in Shark Conservation.  The couple had both started as Champion Spear Fishing divers but soon turned to marine conservation. They became World famous for their work especially with sharks.
Who can forget the amazing images of "Blue Water, White Death."

Those that know me, know that Ron & Valerie have been my life long inspiration. I have never met them personally, but in the past years, we have been in contact via email. Ron was always cheerful, gentle and very helpful. He was also the first person that I had interviewed for my website. (See here) 

Ron, thank you for all that you have done for Sharks and for the Marine world. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with the world and with me.

Valerie, my thoughts and prayers are with you.

Farewell Ron, Farewell Dear Friend.