Mike Rutzen

As the youngest in his family by many years, Rutzen spent a lot of his childhood alone, exploring the natural bush and the granite hills of the region surrounding the farm.

At age 7, he started going to sea on his aunt's boat at the Tugela River’s mouth, where he learned to fish and developed a deep love for the ocean.

[citation needed] After high school, Rutzen enlisted in the South African Defence Force (SADF) as a medic in the 115 Battalion.

In 1993, the shark cage diving industry was established in the area, and Mike was the second local skipper to be employed for his specialized seafaring expertise.

O'Connell, who was working on his PhD project exploring the use of electrosensory stimuli—such as permanent magnets—to repel sharks, had achieved success, prompting the two to join forces.

[14] The Sharksafe Barrier is made of four rows of large vertical pipes,[15] each fitted with magnets that move with the ocean currents and tides to manipulate the swim patterns of sharks.

These magnets overstimulate the unique electrosensory system of Elasmobranchs (i.e. sharks, skates, and rays), known as the Ampullae of Lorenzini, which detect electromagnetic fields.

He learned one form of tonic immobility from Dr. Samuel Gruber and another from Christina Zenato, a behavior which would lead him to the initial idea for the Sharksafe Barrier later on.

[23] Rutzen was also featured as the 'Sharkmaster' on Stan Lee's Superhumans, which investigated his claims that he could indeed interact and communicate with great white sharks using body language.

[24] In a 2012 interview, Rutzen noted that great white sharks "were not the mindless killing machines out to hunt us" as portrayed in horror films.

[26] On 13 May 2017, he was part of the team that broke the Guinness World Records title for the 'Longest Underwater Live Radio Broadcast' in the Atlantis Ambassador Lagoon aquarium.

[29] Rutzen won a Lifetime achievement award at the Tourfilm Festival Prague (2012) for his contribution to extending human boundaries with respect to the world's oceans and his pioneering work with sharks.