01/ 10/ 2013
Location: JoubertsDam
Visibility: 2m am, 3m pm
Number of Sharks: 9+8
Water temp: 15 Celcius
Conditions: Sunny and calm
Guest comment: “Amazing experience! A great company! The hot chocolate was appreciated, excellent and professional staff-thanks!” Helena Leonard, UK
“Great experience! Wonderful day and nice helpful staff!” Robert Monmden, USA
“What an amazing experience! I’ve seen them on Nat Geo but its nothing like being up close like this! Thanks guys!” Damien Potter, Ireland.
Another spectacular day inshore with wonderful shark sightings! As we launhced from Kleinbaai harbour we were practically escorted by a huge Southern Right Whale mother and her calve, basking in the warm morning sunshine! The winter weather has been relentless this year and so the warmer temperatures were very much appreciated by our crew and clients! However, higher sunlight intensity does mean higher plankton bloomage and hence lower visiblity for diving (we can’t have it all!). The divers had very green murky conditions but luckily the sharks approached very closely on both trips. A nice size range was seen throughout the day from 2.5-4.5m TL mainly females, with a couple of juvenile male sharks spotted by our divers when underwater. One adolescent female ‘Dorien’, visited out boat in the afternoon. She has a satellite tag attached to her dorsal from the 2012 OCEARCH expedition which has given information on her whereabouts when not in Gansbaai. Remarkably, this female has been all over the entire coastline, including the Sub Antarctic and up to Namibia in under 12 months! This kind of data is really opening up our understanding of how this species protected in SA waters often (worryingly) crosses political boundaries where not protected. Dorien passed twice so our divers could see her and then lost interest and moved off. After both trips we ran up to Dyer Island to observe more SR whales and very ‘relaxed’ looking Cape Fur seals playfully swimming in Shark Alley. A great day all in all!
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 online with us and get a free video of your encounter with the world’s apex predator.
