Peter Timm

Timm was born in Kroonstad, Free State, on February 15, 1963. He attended Kroonstad High School and became an electrician, setting up his own business. He began diving with the Welkom Underwater Club and, in 1991, took up trimix diving. In 1994, he opened the Triton Dive Lodge in Sodwana Bay and built it into a successful business with a worldwide reputation. Big, tall and friendly, Timm wasn't someone who dived just for record books or T-shirts.

He was an amateur biologist and environmentalist. He photographed and studied species, including different types of algae, invertebrates and fish new to science. He collected biological specimens in the submarine canyons and made an important contribution to local marine science.

Peter was one of South Africa's leading deep-sea divers and the first diver in the world to see a Coelacanth in its element.