Taylor grew up on the coast of New South Wales, Australia and swimming in the ocean was part of everyday life. She began spear fishing and worked her way up in her early 20s to become one of very few women who were professional spear fishers and was named the Australian Ladies National Champion.
However, as she spent more time underwater, especially with the sharks, she had a change of heart. "I learned straight away that sharks are nowhere near as dangerous as the media would have us believe. And I learned that they all have different personalities-there's the shy guy, the cross guy, and the aggressive guy; they're all different. " From that point on, she decided, along with her late husband and world spear fishing champion, Ron Taylor, to hang up her spear and to only shoot them with her camera.
As a pioneering shark conservationist, Taylor succeeded in many firsts throughout her life's work. She was the first person to dive with sharks cageless. The first person to test the power of a shark bite; she hand-fed a Great White and petted it. There's nothing she wouldn't do to help correct the false image that sharks are dangerous, man-eating beasts. Her research has become the basis for much of what we know about sharks today and she succeeded in becoming the first person to get Grey Nurse sharks protected in a specific area, the first shark species in the world to receive protected status.
When asked about what could be done to help save the sharks, and the oceans, Taylor said she was quite pessimistic about the whole thing. "Change has to come from the government level. "But she also recommended, "The thing that works the best is to get a good story and then get it on camera. Then go on television and speak to the public. Say it to the mothers, "Wouldn't you like your child…when they're old enough, to be able to see this wonderful, friendly shark?"
