Craig Foster’s documentary about his encounters with an octopus was shown in almost 200 countries.
‘FOR AS LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER, I’VE REACHED TOWARDS NATURE WITH LITTLE THOUGHT TO THE RISKS’
Craig’s daily dives in a kelp forest off the coast of Cape Town led to his life-changing octopus encounter.
SOMETHING round catches my eye. I leave my father’s side and dive deeper to get a closer look. The size of a dinner plate, the creature glides slowly across the sandy seafloor, the edges of its fin fluttering delicately as it moves. I want so badly to touch it. I reach out . . . My regret is instantaneous as electricity floods my body.
More than 40 years later, my first experience with the onefin electric ray sits strongly in my memory. Electric rays can produce 220 volts of electricity – and the shock I’d felt that day was a lot like the experience of sticking a finger in an electric socket.
Years would pass before I’d be able to get close to that animal again. But it didn’t stop me from feeling the pull towards other animals known to be dangerous to humans. For as long as I can remember, I’ve reached towards nature with little thought to the risks. For better or worse, my desire to be close to wildness has always beaten out my fear.
For years I fed that desire not only with daily dives in the Great African Seaforest [the kelp forest off the coast of Cape Town where he filmed My Octopus Teacher] but also with regular visits to the Jukani Wildlife Sanctuary, located about four hours from