Guest Comments: “Wonderful experience with very informative and knowledgeable people that truly seem to care about providing and exceptional and memorable, shark-tastic experience!” – Quinn
“Amazing experience! Was great to have such helpful staff and really enjoyed our day!” – Winman + Heaton
“Great experience, seeing sharks both in the water and out. Memories we will keep forever, including our 4 year old. Fantastic amount of information!” – The Hill Family
08/04/2018
Location: Joubertsdam
Water Temperature: 15.5°C + 15.7°C + 15.7°C
Depth: 10.8m + 9.3m + 9.6m
Visibility: 0.5m + 1.0m + 1.0m
Number of White sharks: 1 + 3 +
Conditions: Cooler morning leading to bright and warm day with slight swell and east winds.
It was a sunrise launch this morning with Slashfin the first boat to leave the harbour and only one of two vessels out for the morning and the only vessel out for the rest of the day. We started the day off with a Copper shark, as it approached soon after anchor and took us all by surprise. A white shark lurked deep but finally came to the surface and it turned out to be one of the females in the bay at the moment with white pigmentation on the left side of the dorsal fin and a bite scar on the right flank. She stuck with us for some time coming and going every now and again before disappearing to only be seen again during the second trip.
The second trip of the day was an exclusive for a small group of guests who showed some great patience waiting for those great sharks! We had a couple of Coppers from the beginning but it wasn’t until after a anchor switch that we had our first White shark approach, the same female from the first trip, she made a few passes before disappearing. A juvenile White shark then came to the surface before making its’ way of the bow of the boat and not re-appearing. It was our third shark for the trip that made a lasting impression, as another female appeared, similar in size to the other female for the day, that is to say approximately 3.8m in length but quite a feisty one this one was. She made multiple passes and some impressive attempts on boat and decoy lines, finishing off the trip very nicely.
Our last trip of the day began with Slashfin being the only vessel out at sea. We anchored, and before everyone even had their wetsuits, a copper shark had approached the boat. It was very interactive, coming close to the cage, giving our first cage of divers some great sightings. Suddenly it dissapeared and a large shadow appeared in the distance. A dorsal fin broke the surface and soon you could hear the whole boat going “duuun dun.. duuun dun… dun dun dun dun dun dun dun!” We had our first white shark and it was 3.2 meter male white shark who didn’t stick around long as a 3.7 meter female arrived. We’ve seen her around a bit lately and she’s easily distinguishable with white scaring on the top of her head and tip of her tail. She was soon followed by another 3.7 meter white shark that we saw the other day with black scars down its side. We were also visited by a younger juvenile, approximately 2.2 meters long, light in color, with no apparent scars. All of the sharks were amazing to see, but that 3.7 meter female was feisty and extremly curious, earning her the title of star of the trip. We had a few extras with some visits from a couple more copper sharks, and also 2 short-tailed stingrays, one with a very impressive wingspan of over 2 meters. We couldn’t have asked for a better way to end our day!
If you are looking to get up close and personal with the great white shark then 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.
