09/11/2018
“Great enthusiasm and very informative about the marine life we saw.” – Sue Tyler
“Great that the company is working for conservation and lots of information to add to the fun. Thanks” – Bob
“Very interesting, impressive & awesome experience, good we did it.” – Johanna
Location: Joubertsdam
Water Temperature: 15.7C + 15.7C
Depth: 8.7m + 8.9m
Visibility: 0.5m + 0.5m
Conditions: Strong easterly wind.
The first trip launched at 8 this morning to a very low tide. One everyone was in their wetsuits, the waiting game began. The copper sharks were a little slow to wake up, but they did make their rounds after a bit. We also had a cape fur seal that spent a lot of time around the boat. As an ending treat, a Southern Right Whale calf began breaching towards the beach and continued for several minutes. What a way to end the trip!
The second tour of the day had a fantastic time out at sea, with some beautiful Copper Shark sightings and even a view of a Southern Right Whale. By the time we set out, it was warm and sunny. We were excited to get to our dive site to begin our time with the sharks, so we anchored as quickly as we could. Our first shark arrived after only about 10 minutes and from then on, we had an awesome time watching as this gorgeous schooling species approached the boat, checking out what we were up to and giving our divers some great views, although the water was a little murky. We got to see some interesting things on our tour, which included a shark which had almost no dorsal fin left, the shark seemed to be in good health which just shows you how adaptable these cartilaginous fish can be. We also got to see some sharks playing with the sea weed. The pictures of the mouths open below show the sharks coming up to check out the kelp. Once they realized that it was not their type off food, they let the weeds fall to the side before cruising along. All in all, it was an awesome 3 hours out on the water.
For our third trip we headed out straight into the wind, with the waves spraying across the bow. Once we arrived at our dive site, a southern right whale popped up right behind our vessel. Immediately the copper sharks arrived as well, and in numbers. Our guests jumped into their wetsuit and immediately got into the cage. The sharks actively competed with each other trying to entertain the clients. Soon another whale showed up as well. Our guests were incredibly excited with all the animals turn up so active. Luckily the wind died down towards the end of the trip and it was smooth sailing back to shore, where our guests finished the day with some soup and bread at the Great White House.
