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  Ingrid Visser


Shark Hunting

Thirty Five thousand feet over the Bering Sea, we were nestled in relative comfort aboard an Air Magadan Tupolov Jet, sharing the plane with a large contingent of cruise ship Ecotourists.

I was fortunate to be sitting next to a most interesting neighbour - Ingrid Visser, the Wildlife guide and Zodiac driver of the Clipper Odyssey, which this group was flying to meet in Petropovlaska before making the cruise back to Alaska.

When not working fulltime on cruise ships for the other four months of each year, Ingrid is a Doctor of Cetology - one who studies whales and dolphins.

Living in the scenic northern New Zealand town of Tutakaka with her German Shepard Harry, Ingrid devotes her life and passions to studying the mammals that she has had a fascination with since as long as she can remember.  A captivation that she aptly describes as stemming from within her soul. 

Ingrid, it seems, lives a life of adventure that is closely related to her passion of the sea.  When she was only 16, she and her father spent four years sailing from the relative safeties of New Zealand's green shores to more than 90 countries around the world aboard a 57 foot Steel Ketch named Wai-O-Tira.  This was just the start of her journeys that has seen her travel and work to every continent in the world, with Antarctica being far and beyond her deep favorite with its stark landscapes and broad array of land and marine wildlife.

The four and a half hour flight passed quickly and without effort thanks to the many fascinating stories that Ingrid provided me.  Narrative so remarkable and learned that she has been a feature of the Discovery Channel which has devoted a 1 hour documentary to her accomplishments called Killers I have Known.   If it is anything like our conversation, I am more than sure that the program is one not to be missed.

Ingrid's web site detailing more of her work can be found at www.orcaresearch.org

Hear Ingrid discuss the photo she took above