Daily Blog 04 August 2016 (Trip 1 + 2 + 3) | White Shark Diving in Gansbaai

Guest Comment: “Shark diving was never on my to do list. I’m so please we stumbled into it! Fantastic!!!” – Matt + Gretta

“Fun and helpful staff- excellent experience!” -Billy

“Excellent and very exciting! The staff are very nice. 100% recommend!” – Nicolas

04/08/2016
Location: Geldsteen
Water Temperature: 15.2’C + 15.0’C + 15.1’C
Depth: 12.1 m + 12.9 m + 13.8 m
Visibility: 4 m + 3 m + 3 m
Number of Sharks: 4 + 6 + 6
Conditions: Clear skies with a light breeze that picked up a bit as the day went on.


Trip 1
It was another beautiful early morning start with a gorgeous sunrise and a group of very excited divers. We anchored at the Geldsteen hoping for another great day at sea and were not disappointed! By the time our divers were ready, a shark we knew was approaching the boat. This is a very active shark that we know well. He has a bent pectoral fin that makes him look like he’s asking our divers for a high-five. Because of this, we have named him “High-5.” He spent quite a lot of time with us, only leaving for brief periods while another shark came to investigate out divers. This was a 2.5 meter length female with very noticeable scarring and white marks around her body. She spent the entire trip with us, giving a few really nice slow passes in front of each cage, then making several attempts at the bait and decoy. She was definitely a crowd favorite!


Trip 2
Our second trip launched from Gansbaai Harbor due to low tide in Kleinbaai Harbor. This gave our divers the opportunity to learn a bit about Danger Point and one of the most famous shipwrecks that occurred there; the HMS Birkenhead. When this ship sank, the sailors on board decided that women and children should be the first to safety. Because of them, it has now become standard protocol that in the event of a disaster at sea, women and children get in the lift rafts first.. After a nice boat ride around Danger Point we anchored back at the Geldsteen. We immediately had a shark so our divers got ready as quickly as possible and jumped into the cage. The shark from the first trip with the white marks on her body had stuck around the cage and she continued to hang out with us for the duration of the trip. She seemed a bit more awake this trip and was much more active. She did do a few slow passes, giving our divers a great look at her streamline body. After a while she swam off into the distance. We thought they maybe she was done with checking out our divers, until 20 minutes later when she returned with another shark that was quite a bit bigger. The first shark measured at about 2.5 meters, but her friend that she brought was about 3.1 meters. We were unable to see if it was a boy or girl, but we did get a great shot for our dorsal fin identification database.

Trip 3
Our third trip was just as lucky as the first, with a shark at the cage upon our arrival. It was not the same shark from the first two trips. This was a beautiful fiesta female that we call “Mandy.” Typically Mandy likes to go for the seal decoy over and over again, but today she was a bit lazy. Perhaps she had just had a large meal and was still digesting it, or perhaps she had just woken up from an afternoon nap. Either way, she was not her usual self. She made dozens of slow passes in front of the cage before finally deciding to go for the seal decoy. With her came my personal favorite shark. This is a shark that we call “Mini-Nemo” due to his gimpy pectoral fin. He is always highly active, and now that he’s grown more, he is an incredible site to see. He only hung around for the end of our trip, but I always love seeing him and our clients appeared to love meeting him as well!
 


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 and pay online with us and get a free video of your encounter with the world’s apex predator.

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