Ten years ago, Fiona Ayerst gave up the comfortable life of a litigation attorney in Johannesburg to move to Mossel Bay, a small harbor town with a population of under 60,000, to become an award-winning underwater photographer, director of the NGO Sharklife and a representative for SASSI (the South African Sustainable Seafood Initiative).
Ten years ago, Fiona Ayerst gave up the comfortable life of a litigation attorney in Johannesburg to move to Mossel Bay, a small harbor town with a population of under 60,000, to become an award-winning underwater photographer, director of the NGO Sharklife and a representative for SASSI (the South African Sustainable Seafood Initiative). She regularly holds talks on the state of our oceans and over-fishing; trying to urge people to become more conscious of their seafood choices.
That’s not all; on this day when we meet her, Ayerst had just come back off the peaks of the Himalayas where she had been photographing snow leopards. Happy to be home and relishing the sound of the surf, Ayerst gave a glimpse of life behind the lens beneath the sea.
“I have always been passionate about water and being immersed in it. I feel safe and happy in water. It is my ‘go-to’ place if I am ever stressed,” says Ayerst.
Born in land-locked Nairobi, Ayerst found her way into the Indian Ocean in Mombasa at an early age.
This story is from the Aug - Sept 2016 edition of Forbes Woman Africa.
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This story is from the Aug - Sept 2016 edition of Forbes Woman Africa.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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