Rodney fox a pioneered shark cage diving and designed the very first shark cage.
At the museum, we have two shark cages on display.
This one was designed in 1967, it was Rodney 2nd cage he designed and got manufacture at a local South Aussie engineer shop.
It is made out of galvanised mesh.
This cage was used to gain live footage of the White Sharks for the Jaws movie, Men of the Sea, Blue Water White Death to name afew…
This Shark cage was used until the 1980’s.
Another fun fact, This cage was Rodney Son Andrew Fox first ever cage dive!
He first scuba dived with the White Shark at the young age of 14 years old.
Abit of history about the first Shark Cage-
“When I was at the Adelaide Zoo looking at the man-eating lions in the cage, I looked down the side, and there was a watery moat. It was basically to stop the lions from biting the silly humans who put their arms through the bars. I thought maybe I could reverse the role. Maybe I’ll get in the cage, lower the cage over where the sharks are, and make up my own mind if I want to go back diving.” Rodney Fox
Fortunately, he did and unbeknownst at the time, a new tourism industry was born. Rodney drew up plans and had a two-person steel cage built. He then organised a boat and found sponsors for the first-ever cage diving shark expedition. His friend Ron Taylor filmed the event, and it was the first time sharks had been filmed in their natural state underwater.
It confirmed Rodney’s thought: that Great Whites were not vicious man-eaters but fascinating, graceful, curious creatures more interested in fish than humans.
“I noticed the sharks were far more interested in the fish than in the diver in the water. They didn’t come racing in and try and bite the cage or the diver. So I realised there was more to it than just mad killers…that they weren’t as bad as people had said.” Rodney Fox
The first-ever underwater diving expedition was a success.