Graduate who is used to getting up close and personal with great white sharks appears in marine wildlife series

Marine biologist Alison Towner has become a global expert in the ecology of great white sharks following almost 15 years of research in South Africa.

The 35-year-old, who grew up in Ramsbottom, Lancashire, is now appearing in Work on the Wild Side – a 10-part series following vets and volunteers from across the UK who gave up their day jobs to rescue, rehabilitate and release some of the world’s most endangered animals in South Africa.

Alison, who was inspired to become a marine wildlife expert after reading her late father’s novel about salmon and their epic migration at the age of 11, completed a degree in marine biology at Bangor University in 2006.

She then worked as a scuba diving instructor in the Red Sea before taking up a placement with a shark cage diving company two hours east of Cape Town, South Africa.

The role has seen her accompany a host of celebrities including Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, TV presenter Philip Schofield, rugby star Ben Foden and most recently MasterChef’s Greg Wallace cage-diving with the world’s most feared marine predator – often diving by their side as a guide.

It has also led to her involvement with the company’s non-profit organisation Dyer Island Conservation Trust in Gansbaai – the ‘white shark capital of the world’ - where she is now head marine biologist.

Alison, who is expecting her first child, a baby boy due in September, allowed camera crews to follow her team’s efforts conducting research, rehabilitating ocean life and protecting endangered species such as the African penguin over the course of a month.

Viewers will see Alison perform a necropsy on a shark and release a group of penguins following their successful rehabilitation – just two of the day-to-day activities of her dream job.

Alison Towner examines a Brown Shark.Picture by Hennie Otto, Marine Dynamics/Dyer Island Conservation Trust.

“Every day I go out I still pinch myself. My passion is unwavering,” she said.

“You have to make some big life changes but if I was to go back, I’d do it all over again. It’s such a meaningful way of life and I’m thrilled to be involved.

“I consider myself a guardian of this ecosystem. I gave my life up for it. You can have the best paid job in the world without being happy but I couldn’t be happier with my job.

“You can be parked on the water and the next minute see a huge shark launching out of the water with a seal in its mouth – it doesn’t get any more impressive than that.

“These sharks will literally rocket out of the water. That experience never gets old.”

The former Tottington High School pupil became fascinated with sharks at a young age - a passion which led her to achieving her PADI junior open water scuba diver qualification by the age of 11.

Her father Eric Towner, a former Manchester Evening News journalist who she lost when she was five, used to read her shark stories and had also lived in South Africa during the 1970s.

Sharing his passion for marine life, Alison spent a summer as a dive master at a diving centre on the Greek island of Zakynthos before embarking on her Bachelor of Science in Marine Biology at Bangor University.

“I was exposed early on to turtle conservation and by the time I got to Bangor, I had the diving under my belt and had spent a lot of time in the sea,” she said.

“It was my first choice uni. I still remember driving over the Menai Bridge and thinking this is one of the most beautiful parts of the UK.

“What I really enjoyed about the course in Bangor is that it gave me such a diverse skills set. On Anglesey, we had every type of shore habitat you could want as a marine biologist. We learned about kelp, the sand dunes at RAF Valley, how beaches evolve – all the foundation knowledge you’d need I got from Bangor.

“I still refer back to that course now, it has been instrumental.

“Obviously, marine biology is very popular in the UK and most costal universities offer the course. Bangor had a great reputation and subsequently I’ve had so many volunteers and interns coming over to join the programme with me who are Bangor students or graduates.”

The new Channel 4 series, which runs weekly on Saturdays from March to May, was produced by Waddell Media, before the pandemic.

Each half-hour programme takes viewers on an emotional rollercoaster as the wildlife heroes open up about their passion to save animals in danger of extinction including the ‘Big Five’ (African lions, leopards, rhinoceros, elephants, and Cape buffalo) on the Northern Plains.