Daily Blog 12 October 2015 (Trip 1 + 2 +3) | Great White Shark Diving South Africa

Guest comment: “So amazing! I felt safe and it was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen!” – Brittany

“Fantastic! Staff are excellent and friendly, and I got a lot of amazing photos!” – Lindsay + Andy

“This experience was amazing. From before we went on the boat to the moment we got off (and after) the staff were great. They made us all feel comfortable and excited! Seeing the sharks was awesome! Good times in the cage!” – Rebecca

12/10/2015

Location: Joubertsdam
Water Temperature: 16.4’C + 16.9’C + 17.4’C
Depth: 8.2 m + 8.7 m + 9.5 m
Visibility: 1.5 m + 1.0 m + 1.0 m
Number of Sharks: 8 + 6 + 6
Conditions: Full cloud coverage to start with a slight swell picking up throughout the day.

What a splendid day to be at sea! Despite the lack of sunshine, today was another great day for our divers. Within 5 minutes of anchoring we already had a shark approaching our boat. It was a young and small shark measuring at 1.8 meters in length. Although very tiny, it was also very curious. It made numerous passes in front of our cage as our divers were just starting to hop into the cage. After another 10 minutes passed we had a total of 4 different sharks passing in front of our cage! All were highly inquisitive about the decoy and bait line. It didn’t take long for a shark that we know very well named “Caroline” to come visit us. She’s a beautiful shark with a very distinct scar on her left side that looks a lot like a handlebar mustache. She spent the next hour playing with the seal decoy, disappearing into the shadows, then ambush attacking the decoy. She’s quite a sight to see! We had a total of 8 sharks this trip, a short-tailed stingray, and we also saw 2 Southern Right Whales on our way to our dive location and also on the way back. The clouds had cleared by the second trip to make way for a beautiful, sunny day on board and the sharks had arrived in no time! First to show her teeth was “Caroline”, the small, feisty female around the bay at the moment, always welcome at the boat as she usually sticks around for most of the trips, which is exactly what she did today! We also had a larger male come on through, but only in passing, and a smaller juvenile that took some quick, flying passes right up to the cage. This trip also saw the Short-Tailed stingray come up for a visit. Our final trip of the day was just as fortunate as the previous two trips. Not only did “Caroline” stay around to check out our divers, but 2 other sharks that we know very well came to the boat as well. One is “Mini-Nemo” a small and very rambunctious juvenile with a small right pectoral fin that was possibly injured by a boat propeller. The other was “Scarlette,” a large beautiful female with lots of scarring covering her body. These 3 put on quite a show as they always do. However they were outdone by a larger 4.1 meter female who wanted to ensure that everyone saw her get the decoy. She would rise very slowly from the depths, mouth wide open, then get the decoy in her mouth and slowly move forward towards the cage, making sure that everyone in the cage and on board got a good look at what was in her mouth. It was amazing to watch!  It was another great day for everyone on board! 

If you are looking to get up close and personal with the great white shark then Great White Shark Diving in South Africa, 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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