Guest comment: “Experience of a lifetime! It took 27 years to persuade my wife tom come but it was well worth the wait!” – Janice + Lee
“I’ve been scared of sharks my whole life – but from this experience I know see them as beautiful creatures. Thanks!” – Rebecca
“Best experience ever! Don’t count the days make the days count!” – Angus
07/06/2016
Location: Joubertsdam
Water Temperature: 16.0’C + 16.0’C
Depth: 11.4m + 10.8m
Visibility: 4.0m+ 5.0m
Number of Sharks: 12 + 11
Conditions: Small swell and little wind with sun shining.
This morning saw our first launch from Kleinbaai in two days with the tide at a level for Slashfin to leave this small and somewhat shallow harbour. We headed straight out in the direction of the Islands and settled in next to a few other shark cage diving boats out for the morning. Not long before our first shark was spotted and our first divers took the plunge! The sharks visiting the boat this morning were made up of mostly those that we have been seeing frequently including “Cutfin”, “PJ”, “Tum K” and a number of others we recognise by scars and fin but are yet to receive names. The stand out of the mornings’ viewing would easily be “Tum K”, whilst he appeared quite slow and shy at the beginning of the trip, towards the end his behaviour shifted and we saw some absolutely amazing movements around the boat including quick dashes on the surface, slow and fast vertical approaches on both lines and leaps and breaches. A quick pass by the Cape Fur seal signaled the end of our trip and we made our way back to habour and land.
The second trip launched to the same beautiful conditions as the first and once we arrived in the Geldsteen we only shared the area with one other boat for the afternoon. We had sharks around almost instantly with a juvenile White circling around the back of the boat. The sharks we saw this afternoon were mostly the same individuals as this morning but with a difference! Those that had seemed quite inactive earlier on in the day, such as the large female, now came around with amazing behaviour including surprise attempts on the bait and decoy line and multiple semi and full breaches around the boat. It was truly an awe inspiring sight for all on board for our second trip. Many of our trips see a mixture of male and female White sharks as has been true for the last few weeks spent in the Geldsteen however one of the interesting observations of this afternoons trip was that all except one of the sharks we logged were male, something the telemtry studies conducted by DICT has backed in the past, with a large dominance of small to medium sized males seen to utilize this area. Before heading back we once again moved through Shark Alley to see the Cape Fur seals before heading back to land.
A beautiful day chosen by our visitors to spend out on the water with some fantastic activity seen by the sharks that visited Slashfin!
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.