Guest comment: “Thanks for such a great experience! We have been looking forward to it for a year. Great team leading it!” – Meghan + Jose
“Great White Time!” – Anna-Maria
“Finally we got to meet JAWS! He’s not so scary after all. Loved the dive and the whole experience. Thank you very much!” – Jarrod + Tammie
23/04/2014
Location: Joubertsdam
Water Temperature: 12.8’C
Depth: 11.6m
Visibility: 1.5m
Number of Sharks: 3+5
Conditions: Small swell
The low water temperatures continued today but this hasn’t stopped our divers from jumping into that cage to get up close and personal to the Great White Shark! Whilst it didn’t stop our divers it does however affect the sharks. Great White’s are found in temperate waters and are believed to favour water temperatures between 15’C to 24’C. This shark is what we call homoeothermic, which means that it can maintain a stable internal temperature regardless of external influences. This is possible due to a band of red muscle that runs through its core, allowing for counter current heat exchange from the core into the blood and back to the outer muscles. The energy expenditure used to maintain a slightly higher body temperature than the surrounding water temperature means that sharks will be slightly less active when we have the colder water temperatures. However, we still had sharks visiting our boat even with the chilly waters! The majority of sharks we saw today are new additions, it appears a new group of sharks has moved into the bay. We had a large female with a very interesting injury to her left pectoral fin. This pectoral fin has been bent up at a 90’ angle. We also had a small male, seen on both trips, who was curious but also cautious and kept his distance. Everyday is different out in the Dam…
If you are looking to get up close and personal with the great white shark then White 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.
