Inside wildlife photographer Chris Fallows' archive
In a Nutshell
Great white sharks mysteriously vanished from Cape Town's Seal Island waters a decade ago, ending wildlife photographer Chris Fallows' annual sightings of 250-300 individuals and his iconic 2001 photo of a 1,200 kg shark breaching like a missile. Fallows shares breathtaking images from global expeditions, including close encounters with mako sharks, elephants in Kenya's Amboseli, cheetahs in Tanzania's Serengeti, and rebounding humpback whale pods of 150-200, crediting animals' tolerance and his wife Manique's expertise. He and Manique fund conservation with photo profits, restoring 61 acres in South Africa's Cape Infanta and acquiring 26,500 acres in Namibia for wildlife corridors, emphasizing respect for interconnected ecosystems.
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60 Minutes overtime reported on the mysterious disappearance of great white sharks from coastal waters around Cape Town, South Africa. Scientists and conservationists disagree on the culprit but agree the great whites that once cruised these waters are now gone. About 10 years ago, these predators thrived, hunting tens of thousands of seals near Seal Island. With luck, one could glimpse these majestic predators flying out of the water.
That was unbelievable.
Chris Fallows, photographer and naturalist, used to see 250 to 300 different great white sharks a year. His images from then are amongst the most breathtaking of the natural world.
It really did give me an incredible career working with those animals.
Fallows spoke from his home in Cape Town about his renewed sense of purpose after the great whites' disappearance and shared stories behind his remarkable images of wildlife from around the world.
You have photographs in life that you dream of. And in 2001, I took what even to today is probably the photograph I'll always be remembered for. And yeah, I'll never forget it. This huge 1,200 kg great white shark came blasting out of the water like a Polaris missile straight up mouth wide open. And it was in the days of film. So I waited the whole weekend not knowing whether it was going to be sharp or whatever the case would be. As I walked into the lab, everybody was clapping and I thought, "Wow, wonderful. Well, I must have nailed it. It was everything and more that I could ever have hoped for. And it was a photograph that changed my life and it gave me a fantastic start with my photography.
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