Guest Comments: “Amazing staff and crew! Still had so much fun without seeing sharks! Thanks for the best two trips!” – Mason
“Great trip – awesome crew – great job with service and knowledge. Loved the experience and care of seasick people was heartfelt!” – Jennifer + Chad
“Great place, people, food and great fun! Would love to come back someday!” – Doug
20/05/2018
Location: Joubertsdam
Water Temperature: 16.1°C
Depth: 10.1m
Visibility: 3.0m
Number of White sharks: 0
Conditions: High cloud cover with a small rolling swell and increasing winds.
Back to sea for our last trip this week with high hopes that today would be the day that we encountered some sharks. First, let’s go back over the last week’s events, Monday and Tuesday were successful days regarding shark sightings with both Whites and Bronze Whalers, however we ended Tuesday afternoon with news that a lone Orca had been seen in the bay. This was identified as Port, one of the male Orca that make up a pair that for over 12 months now we have been associated with White shark scarcity in the bay due to their liking for the sharks’ liver (please see blog from 2017 on Orca-White shark interactions in the area here for more information). The rest of the week swam by with questions coming left, right and center – where was the other Orca? Had another White shark been killed by the Orca? How long would it be till we would have sightings again? Questions we unfortunately do not have answers for, but we prevail, along with the other companies, boats and crews in the area heading out each day in the hope of coming across a White shark.
Today like any other day, we kept our hopes high, laying on anchor for over three hours in the Shallows we waited patiently, entertained by the small schooling fish around the boat and the exciting visit from a Short-tailed stingray. We waited to hear from other boats, had they had any luck, including those anchored around the Islands in the hope that with boats placed all around the bay we could cover more ground and find where our Great Whites had gone to. Today was unfortunately not the day, we ended our trip with a cruise through Shark Alley, approaching Geyser rock to have a look at the curious Cape Fur seals.
Thank you to those guests that joined us today in our search for sharks. Your enthusiasm in waking up so early on a Sunday morning and taking the chance to join us here in Gansbaai at such an uncertain time is truly appreciated.
If you are looking to get up close and personal with the great white shark then Great White Shark Diving in South Africa, 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.