Valerie Taylor AM (b. 1935) is a marine conservationist, photographer and shark specialist. After contracting polio at the age of twelve while living in New Zealand, she spent several years in rehabilitation; it took two years for her to walk unassisted. After moving back to Sydney, she started spearfishing and free diving at her parent's Sydney waterfront home, later becoming an Australian champion in spearfishing and scuba. In the late 1950s she met Ron Taylor, a world and Australian spearfishing champion. They gave the sport away once they realised that photographing sharks was a vastly more rewarding pursuit than killing them. The couple married in 1963, by which time their first major documentary The Shark Hunters had been sold to Australian and American television. They formed their own production company in 1969, the year they were consultants for the US feature film Blue Water, White Death. Throughout the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s they made and provided footage for numerous films and television programs, among them Wild, Wild World of Animals (1973–78) and Blue Wilderness (1992); and in 1974 they filmed the live shark underwater scenes for the Steven Spielberg blockbuster Jaws. Both were also vigorous and successful campaigners for marine conservation legislation; and the recipients of many prestigious awards for environmental work and underwater photography, their images appearing in magazines such as National Geographic and Time. Since Ron's death in 2012, Valerie has continued to dive and advocate for marine conservation. Her memoir, An Adventurous Life, was launched in 2019. A documentary on Valerie, Playing with Sharks, released in 2021, celebrates her 50-year career.
