Guest comment: “What an adventure! Great experience!” – Michelle & Yvonne
“Fantastic, thank you!” – John
“Thank for taking such good care of me!” – Pam
16/05/2016
Location: Joubertsdam & Geldsteen
Water Temperature: 14°C + 14.4°C
Depth: 10m + 11.5m
Visibility: 1.5m + 3.0m
Number of Sharks: 10 + 10
Conditions: Overcast, no wind and flat sea
This morning was partly cloudy, but it definitely didn’t affect our memorable shark sightings. After launching from the Kleinbaai harbour we were heading straight to the shallows, where we dropped anchor. Most clients were still busy putting on their wetsuits when the first shark arrived, once lucky again. The first shark for today was ‘Cutfin” a male, 3 meter in length. In total we encountered ten different individuals. We also spotted a 4.0m female, she was tagged with one of our acoustic tags last week around Dyer Island. After entertaining shark activity we were heading towards Dyer Island and then cruising slowly through the world famous ‘Shark Alley’ to have a look what the Great white sharks feed on, the Cape Fur seals. On our way back towards the harbour we dropped the cage in the Geldsteen for our research trip in the afternoon. What a great day with lots of sharks and many Cape Fur seals.
Todays’ afternoon trip out on Slashfin was the second trip for our research group form Italy under the guidance of Dr Primo Micarlli. We spent our afternoon in the Geldsteen which is just in front and to the side of Dyer Island, signalling our first trip of the season at the Islands. The sharks arrived quickly and kept coming as the visiting group kept tabs on the individuals and their behaviour. We had a number of animals that we have seen recently in the Shallows, these sharks appear to move around the area frequently utilising the entire Greater Dyer Island area. Not only did we see some familiar fins but we also had a few ones including a large male with a very distinctive dorsal fin showcasing a rounded notch at the tip of the trailing edge and big Rosie’s (white pigmentation naturally found on White sharks) on both sides of the fin. Whilst he did not stay around long he did make a lasting impression especially as it is believed to have been an individual that the group has studied in previous years. The new addition also made a lasting impression today, a large female close to the size of the cage stuck around for the entire trip and gave such a spectacular show including half breaches and beautiful, slow glides in front of us. If you browse the photographs from our trip below she is the one responsible for some of the more magnificent ones! It looks like our winter season has arrived…
If you are looking to get up close and personal with the great white shark then Shark Diving in Gansbaai, and more specifically with Marine Dynamics, is a once-in-a-lifetime experience you won’t want to miss. Book and pay online with us and get a free video of your encounter with the world’s apex predator.
