I think we need a bigger boat!
Trip Start
Apr 08, 2010
1
9
10
Trip End
Apr 19, 2010
Gansbaai, Western Cape, South Africa
Saturday, April 17, 2010
SHARKS!
Saturday, April 17, 2010
So finally, the day of the great shark swim had arrived. My sister has been extremely worried about the shark dive, and my nephew called me back (after just getting off the phone with Nikki), to inquire very specifically about the fact that would or would not be swimming with real sharks. He seemed to think that we would be in the water with puppets, not real ones. I clarified that the dive was to be with real, live, big Great White Sharks. He seemed pacified, even if he was a bit curious as to how this swim would logistically take place. This commentary is also coming from the child who did not want a toy rhino from Africa, but a real one. When asked where he would keep his "real" rhino, he responded it could live in his house, but could also go out to the back yard. He also told my mom that he really wanted a giraffe, but that it may be too big for the plane, so he settled on a rhino instead, because it is apparently somehow smaller than a giraffe. CJ did get a rhino on this trip, but it is a rather small one, but it was purchased in Kruger park on the day that I actually saw a rhino.
But now, back to the shark dive. We were lucky again in that we were “selected” for the second launch of the day (from noon to 3), so our pick up time in Cape Town was manageable at 7:30 am. The first launch had pick up times all before 5 am. Whew! We make all our pickups (18 people in all – from all over the area) and headed to the office to finalize payments, look at the great pics, and have a light breakfast. We headed out to the rather rocky launch site and met our skipper, dive master and deck hands. After our safety briefing, we jumped on board and were reversed back into the water via a tractor. Although the water was purportedly “calmer than expected” there was still a pretty significant swell and the ride out to the “alley” was very roller coaster like. Contrary to belief, we do not actually go out to shark alley to view the sharks. The alley is the area between Dyer Island and the rock on the other side where the seals will get in the water to go back and forth. It is quite a coup for a shark to surprise the seal and actually eat one, but non the less, the sharks will attempt to give it a go. The shark diving tours (there are only nine licensed boats) actually set anchor on the other side of the island and attract the sharks by using chum. They also use tuna heads to bait the sharks into the area around the boat, but we don't actually feed the sharks. They do however occasionally get the tuna off the line – which results in a spectacular show…if you can manage to capture it on your camera.
Regardless, after the ride out, we had to go and collect the cage – which they leave out with the anchor in between launches, and then tied up on the other side of the two boats already out in the area. We were immediately joined by one of at least seven sharks that came out to play. The shark was there so quickly that no one had suits on yet and we were all scrambling to get into the water. Despite my dive certifications, we really had no need to use scuba as the sharks were right there and we had a good idea of what was going on by listening to the crew on board and going down when they instructed. They put you in the water on the right of the cage and then you climbed out from the left. I had the underwater camera with me that the time, but the white balance was set up for underwater shots, so all my surface shots on that camera were rather pink. However, the few that came out from under the water were ok, the water visibility was very low and there were a lot of particles. The biggest problem with the cage is that there are five people in there, the boat is moving against the cage, and the cage is moving against the boat and with the water and it is about all you can do to keep yourself and your camera within the confines of the cage. I inadvertently held on to an outer bar and I got in a bit of trouble. Our dive master told me that he didn’t want to get sued if I lost my fingers. Of course, Frank then had to tell him I was a lawyer…grrr! But I digress!
I only went in once because my picture taking opportunities were much better from the deck over the cabin than they were from the water. Frank took two turns in the cage and at one point while he was in there, the cage was surrounded by three sharks. One below, one behind, and one in front. Also while he was in there, two sharks actually managed to take the bait and one of them subsequently (while pulling the bait off the line) thrashed the cage with his tail. There were so many sharks in the area that one (or two) actually bit the float off the anchor line….twice. Both the skipper and our dive master stated that we had very good luck with the dive. There were several sharks (at least seven) and they were all pretty big. On average they were 3 meters (9 feet) and the largest one was a 4 meter (12 foot) female. Surprisingly, all the sharks were juveniles, meaning they are not yet full size, and are not yet sexually active. Apparently that happens when they are about 13 years old. Also, sharks are born live and are immediately required to fend for themselves. Apparently, Great White females have been known to give birth and then turn around and eat them – if they don’t get away quickly enough.
Overall the sharks were magnificent, but nearly impossible to photograph. As I sat on the deck of the boat, braced with one hand and camera on, pointed and ready with the other, I still missed SIX chances to get their heads out of the water. They are so unbelievably fast and dive down so quickly, by the time you have the reaction to click the shutter (even on my instant – no focus – sport settings), you have already missed the shot. I will not make it as a shark photographer, I can see that now. I did get some pretty good ones from the boat, but one of the other tourists got some pretty great ones as he had is camera on a continuous setting and just kept clicking. He has agreed to send most of us a copy of the pic. The ones I took, even though they aren’t great, are on the blog.
After our great shark adventure, we headed back to the office to have a light lunch, watch the video (yes, I have it), and get ready to head back to Cape Town. On the way back, we watched the sun set over Hermanus (the whale watching capital). It is not whale season…so there no whales to watch on this trip. We headed back to the hotel and then finally cleaned up from the sun and salt of the dive. We found a great shopping/eating area in de Waterkant and had some dinner, and then after a very long and exhausting day, finally got some sleep.
