A WOMAN who swapped Ramsbottom for South Africa where she works as marine biologist is appearing in a show about Brits living and working abroad.

Alison Towner, 34, works in marine conservation in the country and appears on new Channel 4 series “Work on the Wild Side” which began on Monday.

At the Dyer Island Conservation Trust (DICT), globally-recognised expert Alison works with the Marine Big five - sharks, penguins, whales, seals and dolphins raising awareness worldwide of their plight.

Alison, who moved to the country 14 years ago, said: "I got my love of marine life from my late father who was an ocean enthusiast, loved sealife and even wrote a novel.

"He had a huge impact on me and really inspired me for the five years he was with me."

"The show follows a select group of Brits working in conservation, so it shows my daily work which involves going out and tagging Great White sharks, rescuing penguins and helping raise awareness."

Each hour-long programme takes in the vast country and animals that reside in it, with viewers seeing things such as vets and volunteers relocating a giraffe, rescuing a two week old hippo, becoming surrogate mums for orphaned monkeys, giving mouth to mouth resuscitation to a cheetah and assisting in the process of dehorning a rhino.

The series captures South Africa’s vibrancy and colour while shining a light on the critical conservation issues affecting these most vulnerable of species.

Alison finds that the show enables people to escape the ongoing pandemic and explore a world that they might not have seen before.

She said: "The show gives people a chance to watch something on TV other than the pandemic- hopefully inspiring people along the way too.

"With the covid pandemic, what I am really trying to do is push the fact that if people want to come to South Africa once this is all over, you can do.

"The tourism industry is struggling at the minute and as we receive no government funding (as an NGO), we need the funds to carry on the conservation work that we are doing."

With an avid interest in sharks since her early age, it is fitting that a lot of the work she does is with the awesome predator.

However, with films like Jaws and Deep Blue Sea portraying the creatures as mindless beasts, Alison is keen to set the record straight on the "lions of the ocean."

She said: "We work really hard to show that they are crucial predators in the oceans.

"I have had an obsession with them since I was a kid. I am just so fascinated by what remarkable predators they are.

"I wouldn't say I have a fear of them now but I do respect them- they are the lions of the ocean.

"They are complex animals with their own personalities and they are incredibly cosmopolitan animals.

"Humans are killing 75 million sharks a year and Great Whites are caught up in that. They should be more scared of us."

Work on The Wild Side will run for four weeks.