A self-styled 'mermaid' risks her life whenever she dives with giant sharks like great whites - but does it all in the name of science.
Blue-haired Nandile Ndhlovu, 33, is a diving instructor who is part of an all-female team looking at the migration patterns of sharks in South Africa.
Ndhlovu lives in Cape Town and is the country's first black free diving instructor and founder of The Black Mermaid Foundation, a company aiming to make the enjoyment of the ocean a more diverse and inclusive experience for those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Along with shark biologists Alison Twoner and Leigh de Necker, she featured in Shark Women: Ghosted by Great Whites as part of Discovery Channel's Shark Week.
In the show, Ndhlovu jumps into a stretch of water dubbed Shark Alley, which is a magnet for great white sharks.
She can hold her breath underwater for an astonishing four minutes - something she calls her "superpower" - but is well aware of the risks she takes in studying the feared big fish: "I recognise every time I enter the ocean that I'm on borrowed time.”
"When you're underwater, there are no words to describe how massive great white sharks are.
"They are no child's play. Anything can happen and if it's your time you will know it."
At one point Ndhlovu dives down to the murky regions of the kelp forest where great white sharks are often known to lurk.
She added: 'I will not lie, I was scared. I've never been so nervous.
"People think that the kelp forests prevent great white sharks entering the space.
"But that's not true and I was terrified because you're in this place with an abundance of food and you don't want to be right next to the food truck when one turns up."
In order to monitor the great whites' migration patterns, the giant beasts need to be tagged and this is task Ndhlovu is all too familiar with.
The team has even 'wrestled' with the sharks to keep them secure on bait ropes so they can be tagged and observed, which provides invaluable information about these apex predators.
Her colleague Twoner said about tagging one female great white: "It was terrifying to see a huge 16-foot shark's jaws wide-open, snapping at the bait just at the side of the boat, just a few feet away.
"It was a moment like no other when the shark grabbed the bait and started smacking her tail against the cage - so much that I thought it would be snapped off the line and that I was going to fall to the bottom of the ocean."
Twoner also added that there is a "macho" culture when it comes to sharks and was proud to be part of a "professional, dedicated" all-female team.
