Guest Comment: “An absolute wonderful day! We loved every minute of it and the crew were great! – The Jounstons
“Really enjoyed the shark cage diving. Very thrilling and fun, love it!! 10/10” – Sebastien
“Amazing experience, Sarah’s passion is contagious, we really appreciate all of her knowledge.” – Chris and Sue-Anne
“Excellent information about sharks and the sea. Exceptionally helpful staff. Lunch was DELISH!” – Karen and John
2018/07/08
Location: Joubertsdam
Water temperature: 14.4°C + 14.5°C
Depth: 10.2m + 8.8m
Visibility: 2.5m + 2.5
Number of Great Whites: 2 + 3
Conditions: Calm seas with a very light breeze and clear skies. Warm temperatures throughout the day.
With warm and comforting weather Slashfin launched some minutes late from the Kleinbaai harbour but luckily enough the sharks were already waiting for us in the shallows of Joubertsdam. We had just anchored and the 34 clients were putting on their wetsuits while a 3.5 meter long great white showed up next to the decoy. After a couple of minutes of happy shouting and outbursts of amazement from the upper deck it was replaced by another yet smaller 2.6 meter long Great White. The bigger one was not seen again on this trip but the on going activity of its replacement entertained us all during the remainder of the time. After the clients got up satisfied from the cage, the volunteers and the intern, yours truly, had the pleasure to join the last ones in the cage while the shark was still cruising next to Slashfin. After the last client was happy to get up from the chilly water to a cup of hot chocolate and a warm towel, about three and a half hours after launch, we brought up the anchor and set course towards shark alley to watch the cape fur seals waving to us. The skipper slowed down so everyone could take some pictures and watch the jumping and playing seals behind the boat. On our way back to the harbour, another surprise waited for us in shape of a humpback whale swimming to the southeast. We slowed down in order to get a better view but at a safe distance to not disturb the migrating giant before docking at the harbour.
The gorgeous warm weather carried on through to our second trip! We set out on calm waters hoping that the sharks from the morning trip would come visit us again, and that they did. We had a total of 3 White sharks accompany us this afternoon. They were all around the same size determined by comparing their length relative to our 5m cage. Our first shark was a 3.4m male that we have seen before, immediately recognized by horizontal scars on his dorsal fin. He showed some interest in our seal decoy and approached the cage for our us to get a nice close up view. Our other 2 sharks were 3.4 and 3.3m in length. They were calm, staying under the water most of the time but we had great visibility allowing us to admire their grace as they slowly cruised around the vessel and the cage. Overall, a great trip with great sharks and great people! Big thank you to everyone who joined us today.
Written by Daniel Rooth and Danielle Kelly, interns at the Marine Dynamics Academy.
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.
