As us mere mortals cocoon ourselves in blankets to hide from the cold, 44 year old Capetonian Justin Coetzee is swimming in frigid sea waters every day, pushing the boundaries of human endurance and raising awareness about the plight of the oceans.
On 22 March, the ocean warrior became the first man to jump into the I&J Predator Exhibit at the Two Oceans Aquarium wearing nothing but a speedo. In the company of four intimidatingly large and inquisitive ragged-tooth sharks, shoals of predatory fish and loggerhead turtle Yoshi, Coetzee swam for 45 minutes in the two million liter cold water tank to raise awareness about the rising tide of plastic pollution in our oceans.
“I’m a conservationist and the ocean plays a huge role in my life. I swim every day and there are occasions when I come out with a speedo full of plastic. It pains me to see the pollution levels. Plastic takes thousands of years to degrade and before this happens it’s inevitably ingested by marine life,” Coetzee explains.
Coetzee was the first ever person swim across the surface of the predator tank.
“Sharks are extremely intelligent and they immediately knew there was something strange happening. At the beginning two of them came up and flanked me, but the divers made sure I was safe,” says Coetzee.
Coetzee is one of the Two Oceans Aquarium’s ambassadors, carrying out courageous swims such as these to support the aquarium’s various campaigns highlighting the extreme danger that plastic poses to our marine life.
Two Oceans Aquarium curator Maryke Musson said most people don’t realise the extent of the pollution. More than 8 million tonnes of plastic ends up in the world’s oceans every year.
“There is already an estimated 165 million tonnes of plastic in the oceans, equating to 5 trillion pieces. It is expected that by 2050 there will be more plastic in our oceans than fish,” says Musson.
She explains that entanglement in and ingestion of plastic debris kills thousands of marine creatures every year.
“We want to create awareness around this global issue, but more so inspire people to take action, use and re-use plastics responsibly and make a difference to our shared environment. The Two Oceans Aquarium is absolutely thrilled to have Justin on-board, or at least in the water, as an ambassador. Justin is supporting, swimming for and also living our campaigns,” she says.
*This article was written by a TWNA journalist, Dale Hes for The Traveller magazine.