Marine Dynamics Blog
Blog - Marine Dynamics - Page 418
- Admin
There was no need to wait around for the sharks to arrive today; as soon as we arrived at the Dam they were there! Our trip started off with a couple of average sized sharks (3 meters), but it was fantastic to hear and see everyone’s reactions on the boat as soon as a massive 4.3 meter sized shark arrived on the scene. I heard screams of excitement as well as fear and some people just went quiet! This shark is known as ‘Woundy’, due to the large scar on its tail. Our trip was made even more special due to the fact that we had a couple of newlyweds on board as well as some birthday boys! I feel honoured that I was able to be a part of your special moments and able to bring some sharks to the party. What a day…
- Admin
We had two equally spectacular trips today on Slash Fin. We had guests of all ages on board showing that shark cage diving is not limited to one age class. My youngest passenger was only 2 years old and my oldest I will not mention, as per request of the client :)! The sharks were spending a lot of their time showing off and flying all over the place. We also had a very dramatic encounter where a seal decided to play in front of the cage. I was truly hoping to see a predation take place and on the photos you can see how close it was. The seal was very lucky to make it out of there in one piece! Our second trip had equally impressive sharks and just as many youngsters. The action did not stop on the boat, the kids kept me very busy even on land. I am very glad that I am still fit enough to keep up with all the young ones, I can’t believe how fast they can run :)! A very special day…
- Admin
What a way to start the day! Our trip started with the release of a baby sea turtle, back into the wild. Marine Dynamics took it upon themselves to release this animal back into its natural environment. Everyone on board was thrilled to be a part of this fantastic occasion, especially the little girl entrusted with the duty of releasing it. Afterwards we carried on towards our area of cage deployment where we had lots of shark activity waiting for us! The shark activity was amazing and the visibility in the water spectacular and these two elements always make for a winning combination! We spotted several box jellies today as well as a single blue bottle. On our return trip I was given a small love bite on my finger by a subantarctic skua while attempting to give it some food, it was very funny! I love those birds…
- Admin
- Admin
Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:”Table Normal”; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:””; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;}
This afternoons trip picked up where the first left off ‘Bent Fin’ and ‘Notchy’ circling the cage as we arrived. Very, very big sharks on the trip and we saw at least 12 of them including ‘Sharkius Maximus’ ‘Big Nemo’ among others. It was a lovely group of guests on Slashfin today too, plenty of families on board and Margaret Holden who came aboard at the grand age of 89! We’re honoured to have you all with us and it was great to be able to share fantastic shark sightings with you.
- Admin
Another excellent start to the trip courtesy of ‘Woundy’ I first saw this shark over 3 years ago with a large and freshly opened wound on her keel between the 2nd dorsal fin and tail in Mossel Bay, I joined Marine Dynamics later that year and low and behold here ‘Woundy’ was here in Gansbaai too. Three years on she is now massive, comfortably over 4 meters and still has her feisty temperament. After she left it was quite for a time before more and more sharks started to appear. One was very large – even bigger than ‘Woundy’ and ‘Bent Fin’ who’s around 4 meters. It’s such a privilege to work with these animals on a daily basis but it’s always special to see the big ones!
- Admin
Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:”Table Normal”; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:””; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;}
The only worry with today’s trip was that the algal bloom which has been prominent in the bay may affect our visibility. Sea conditions were perfect with a slight breeze and no swell, unfortunately the bloom however remained and visibility was reduced. This had little to no effect on our trip as within five minuets the now giant ‘Woundy’ appeared. We’ve been seeing this shark since 2007 when she was less than 3 meters in length and have continued to be visted on and off for the past 5 years. She is now over 4 meters in length and completely dominated the first half of our trip. Rubbing alongside the cage as she passed and giving every person who entered the cage a jaw dropping, breathtaking experience. By the end of the trip many other sharks had arrived and we sighted at least 8 or 9 – possibly more. Fantastic stuff! Thank you very much to Paul Hubert of Paul Hubert Ltd (UK & Ireland) for adopting 2 white sharks, they will be tagged later this year.
- Admin
If white sharks are so scary to us, what scares white sharks? This shark fact dives into what keep white sharks awake at night…
- Admin
A really great trip today with the sharks arriving very promptly on the scene! Our visibility was still hampered by the large planktonic blooms in the area, however the sharks new exactly what to do! They were coming very close to the cage and to not see them was impossible! We had two sharks over the 4 meter mark which was a great treat for everyone on board including myself! After all of the amazing shark activity in the water we were greeted by a large pod of bottlenose dolphin on our way back from Dyer Island! A brilliant way to end off our day! There is just so much life in this area, it is very important to keep a sharp eye out at all times! At all times…
- Admin
We absolutely love our coastline as well as the high nutrient levels which create our large food webs in the ocean. We have one of the strongest upwelling systems, off our coast, in the world. These factors contributes to the immense diversity in the ocean but it has one large drawback for shark cage diving, it decreases our visibility severely. We had nice big sharks today who were a bit more relaxed and not as active in going for the bait, it was still fantastic to see them make their slow passes. One of our regular sharks arrived on the scene today with fresh scars; it’s never a pleasant sight. The scars could have occurred as a result of several speculative factors, only a closer inspection would reveal the answer. We had an awesome bunch of guests on board who were in very high spirit. It was a pleasure having you on board. Great stuff…
Book your adventure of lifetime
Conservation Partners
Dyer Island Conservation Trust
African Penguin & Seabird Sanctuary
Department: Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment
Cape Nature
Overstrand Municipality
