Guest comment: “Well organised, really welcoming, informative and exceeded all our expectations – thank you!” – Alexandra + Michael
“Amazing! Great to have seen so many sharks. The staff were informative and friendly!” – Brittney
“Wonderful tour and great crew!” – Victoria
01/12/2016
Location: Joubertsdam
Water Temperature: 17.4’C + 17.5’C + 17.5’C
Depth: 10.0m + 10.0m + 10.0m
Visibility: 0.5m + 0.5m + 0.5m
Number of Sharks: 8 + 7 + 5
Conditions: Flat seas with a slight wind and clearing skies.
Trip 1
The team at Marine Dynamics and our visitors have had a fantastic November and we wondered what the first day of December might hold for us? Truth be told we had a beautiful start to the month with pleasant conditions and some great shark activity. The first trip of the day headed out and only had a 20 minute wait for it’s first sighting as a large female with a curled tip to the dorsal fin came cruising in. This shark is a new addition for this season and is easily recognisable due to the rolled fin. Soon after a smaller female appeared and then made room for a larger female known to us as “Paisley”. This shark was tagged by the Dyer Island Conservation Team last December and we are so pleased to see her back in the bay looking healthy and with the acoustic tag still firmly in place. The trip continued to see new sharks arriving throughout with the female White sharks really dominating the morning.
Trip 2
The presence of female sharks around the boat did not last long with our second trip launching this afternoon and finding that most of the trip’s sharks were male individuals. This group only had a 10 minute wait for the first shark’s arrival, a large male just under 4.0m in length that did not stick around but was closely followed by a smaller male we have been seeing frequently the last few days that has lost the upper lobe of it’s caudal fin. It is highly likely that this injury was sustained from another shark or a boat’s propellor, and whilst it may hinder the sharks movement slightly it has healed over completely and the shark looks healthy. The last male white shark to visit during this trip was non other than one of our iconic White sharks, “Pieter”, a favourite amongst the team as he has been tagged, tracked and biopsied and visits approximately 3 times a year. It was after “Pieter’s” arrival that the two last sharks arrived, both of which were female, including the first shark of the day, the female with the rolled dorsal fin.
Trip 3
The third and final trip of the day was for a family of 10 who are visiting South Africa from Brazil who were desperate to catch a glimpse of the famous White shark before ending their visit very soon. The sharks were prompt with their arrival and we had multiple sharks for the trip and also at one time. This trip seemed to be dominated by the smaller individuals with many juveniles and a few sub-adults. This does not deter from a White shark experience as the smaller animals are usually the more active of the species with fast, playful movements through the water.
An all round beautiful day to be spent out on the water with some of the area’s most sort after creatures.
If you are looking to get up close and personal with the great white shark then Great White Shark Cage Diving in Gansbaai, 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.
