Guest Comment: “Fantastic! Great atmosphere and all staff and volunteers are what made a total experience. Thank you. xx” – Jackie
“We both enjoyed the trip very much. The staff were helpful and knowledgable. Thank you everyone for a once in a lifetime trip!” – Coleen + Linda
“Had a fantastic trip. Sharks were awesome up close! Staff were excellent and so so helpful. Thank you!!” – Rachel + Gary
13/10/2016
Location: Joubertsdam
Water Temperature: 16.8’C + 16.6’C
Depth: 10.0 m + 10.1 m
Visibility: 0-0.5 m + 0-0.5 m
Number of Sharks: 7 + 6
Conditions: A bit choppy. Swells with light wind in the morning. The swell died down a bit as the day went on, but the wind picked up.
Trip 1
After two days not at sea due to bad weather, we were anxious to see the sharks activity levels today. We were not disappointed! Our first trip had a bit of a wait, with 35 minutes of everyone wondering “would they come?” However the wait was worth it as a very large 4.2 meter female white shark recently adopted and named “Dave” arrived. She stunned everyone on board with her size. After a bit, “Sarko” arrived, a feisty little 2.4 meter female. On this dive, we were lucky and were able to show our divers two of our tagged sharks, a 3.0 meter male known for being highly active (Today he did not disappoint!) and a 3.3 meter female. “Scarlett” also came by. For those who haven’t heard about “Scarlett,” she is a crew favorite. She’s 4.0 meters long and has distinct bite wound scars on her head and face. She also has a chunk taken out of the top lobe of her caudal fin. We love when she comes by as she is the perfect shark to photographic. She isn’t very aggressive and loves to spy-hop. We were also visited by a 2.0 meter white shark with a wound above its gills, and a 3.6 meter white shark with a black scar behind its dorsal fin.
Trip 2
Our second trip had a much shorter wait, with a shark approaching the boat as the briefing was occurring. It was “Scarlett,” back again, and this trip she stayed with us almost the entire time that we were anchored. She was quickly followed by the tagged male from the first trip, who flew out of the water immediately upon arrival. It didn’t take long for “Sarko” to return as well. We were also visited by a 2.4 meter white shark with no unique markings, a very dark 4.0 meter white shark with a small bite mark scar on its right side below the dorsal fin, and a 3.2 meter white shark with a lots of scratches on its head. This trip was also lucky and got to see 2 short-tailed stingrays, and when we pulled up the anchor, we discovered an empty puff adder shy shark egg case. It’s always nice to be able to show other species (or evidence of a species) that live in the area. Another great day at sea! We hope that tomorrow is just as amazing!
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.
