At 4:30am Beredine Booysen was woken by the wife of another poacher. "Is your man at home?" the woman asked her. Booysen, 37, said no.
The last time she'd seen her husband, Mortimer, was at dusk the previous evening, Saturday 26 May, when one of his crew had picked him up for work. Known as Mortier (pronounced "Morty"), he was the skipper for an abalone poaching syndicate in Gansbaai, piloting their inflatable vessels, known as superducks, to drop and collect divers from reefs out at sea. Skinny and diminutive, with a gold stud in one front tooth, Mortier was known as one of the best skippers in the area. "He's the only man that knows all the channels and dive spots," his wife said.
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