A COUPLE who spend their lives in the company of sharks will challenge the animal’s reputation for bloodthirstiness at a talk in Brighton today.

Underwater photographers Nick and Caroline Robertson-Brown will speak about their encounters with sharks and rays all over the world, and let their audience know where they can see and protect them in the UK.

The husband and wife team are delivering the lecture at 4pm as part of a full day of talks and activities at the Brighton Dolphin Project, a charity which protects and teaches about wildlife on the Sussex coast.

Nick said: “Most people think of sharks as dangerous monsters – but that’s just not true. Last year only seven people were killed by sharks worldwide.”

“It’s a really damaging myth,” he said. “These are beautiful, much-maligned creatures, and they’re treated appallingly. They’re still hunted commercially for their fins, which are removed for medicines and shark-fin soup.”

Nick explained that while these practices are often associated with the Far East, sharks are also at risk closer to home.

“Many of our fish and chip shops in the UK serve shark meat. They might call it rockfish, huss, or rock eel, but what they’re serving is dogfish – an endangered shark. People should know about this – it’s dreadful,” he said.

But Nick and Caroline’s talk will take a positive tone: by teaching about the formidable creatures they photograph for a living, they believe they can help protect them.

At the Dolphin Project event, a series of experts will explain how to get involved in shark conservation, showcase the equipment they use, and guide parents and children on a hunt for washed up shark egg cases, called mermaids purses.

Caroline said: “Most of these seaweed-coloured mermaids purses you find cast up on the shore actually belong to rays. They’re about palm size, and you can spot them by the hooks on either end. They’re designed to latch on to algae out at sea: when it drifts towards the shore, the egg cases come with it.”

It’s not just egg cases, though. The pair also point out that the Sussex coast is a good place to see live sharks, and is home to two of the most common species in the UK: the blue shark, and the basking shark, the second largest fish in the world. It can reach up to 10m in length, almost as long as a double-decker bus.

Caroline said: “You might see one from the shore. With a basking shark, what you’re looking out for is two sets of fins breaking the surface. They’re such big animals that the fins can be metres apart.

“These huge sharks are totally harmless. They feed on plankton, so they’re often at the surface – which means they’re your best bet of seeing a shark from the Sussex coast”

Nick and Caroline will speak together from 4-5pm today as part of JAWsome Sharks & Radical Rays, a full day of talks and activities from 11am – 5pm at the Brighton Dolphin Project’s shorefront Discovery Centre on Madeira Drive. You can book tickets at eventbrite.co.uk