Green
SPECIAL FEATURE
Runners
( Part 2 )
This is part 2 of our Green Runners feature . The first part appeared in the January edition , and you can read it here .
The natural environment is vitally important to all of us . It supplies the air and water that we cannot survive without , it provides much of our food and medicine , and many industries and jobs are dependent on a healthy environment . Unfortunately , the way we live and the resources we use cause widespread damage to the environment – even running can be destructive or damaging – but fortunately , there are dedicated people working to protect and conserve the environment . This includes a number of incredible people from within the running community , so join us in celebrating their stories , and the vital work they do . – BY SEAN FALCONER
The Running Shark
Marine biologist and aquarist Leigh De Necker has dived with Tiger sharks off Mozambique and the USA , with Great Hammerheads in the Bahamas , as well as Thresher sharks off the Philippines , but her favourite sharks are still the much smaller Seven Gill sharks that frequent the kelp forests off the Cape Town coast . And she uses her sporting activities , both running and swimming , to help generate awareness of all the shark species found off our coast , while also working with the various animals at the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town . – BY SEAN FALCONER
There are two musical notes , if played together and repeated at a slow pace , then rapidly sped up , that have the uncanny ability to instil sheer terror in many people . Especially if they happen to be in the sea … Yes , of course , it ’ s the theme music of the 1975 blockbuster thriller Jaws , directed by Steven Spielberg , which tells the story of a giant man-eating shark terrorising a small town on the US coast … and the fact that you are most likely singing that infamous theme tune in your head right now , just shows how much this Hollywood film has influenced our thoughts about sharks .
Jaws was followed by three sequels , and then a swathe of other shark movies , with one of the most recent being 2018 ’ s The Meg , starring Jason Statham . In this film , the heroes are faced by a 23-metre megalodon shark , long thought extinct , and of course , as in most shark films , they end up killing it . And this is why marine biologist and shark expert Leigh De Necker gets so frustrated with Hollywood , even though she admits that she has watched most of the shark films . “ Yes , I watch them out of morbid curiosity , and The Meg was not the worst film , but it was still absolutely terrible . It is frustrating , as it paints these animals in such a bad light ,” she says .
“ Yes , they are predators , but take the Great White , Bull and Tiger sharks out of the equation , the three types that are responsible for
Images : Brandon Spolander , Sophie Hart & courtesy Table Mountain Challenge & Wildrunner
14 ISSUE 138 FEBRUARY 2021 / www . modernathlete . co . za Leigh in action in the Table Mountain Challenge