Guest comment: “Such an incredible experience. Loved every minute!” – Sascha
“Amazing experience and absolutely excellent staff, crew and volunteers. Thank you very much!” – Richard
“Spectacular experience that will never be forgotten! Thank you!” – Rachel
14/10/2016
Location: Joubertsdam
Water Temperature: 16.3’C + 16.8C + 16.8’C
Depth: 8.9m + 10.0m + 10.1m
Visibility: 0.5m + 0.5m + 0.5m
Number of Sharks: 8 + 5 + 9
Conditions: Clear skies with a eastly wind decreasing with the day.
Trip 1
Slashfin made it’s way around Danger Point early this morning and headed straight into the Shallows to our anchor site. Whilst the east wind was still quite strong this morning it started to lessen as the trip proceeded and the morning turned out to be a beautiful start to the day. We had our first shark not long after we arrived with an active juvenile female appearing and whist she was active she was not content on sticking around much like our second shark, a smaller juvenile that appeared and disappeared quickly. The next shark to arrive was “Karim”, on of the male sharks currently in the bay that we were lucky enough to attached an acoustic tag to in September. We also had two of our adopted females, “Sarko” and “Mulfur” taking it in turns the pass by, “Sarko” with speed and agility and “Mulfur” slow and precise in her movements.Towards the end of this trip a male showed up that at first glance was not an individual we are familiar with however once his dorsal fin was looked at more closely it was realised that this was “Pieter”, a male shark that was acoustically tagged and also biopsied by Dyer Island Conservation Trust last year. We usually see this male 3-4 times a year with his last visit seen in February of this year, Welcome back “Pieter”.
Trip 2
This second trip of the day proved to be another excellent trip with stunning conditions. Plenty of shark activity was seen with the star of the show being “Scarlett” a 4.2m female who is well known to the team at Marine Dynamics thanks to the scarring that gained her the name and also because of her slow, determined passes which impresses all. We were also lucky to see one of the recently tagged sharks this trip, a different White shark to the first trip with this one being one of the females that was tagged in September.
Trip 3
The third and final trip of the day got off to a bit of a slow start with a bit of a wait for our first White shark to appear however patience paid off and we were in for a magnificent trip once the shrks started to appear. The first to arrive was none other than “Paisley” a female estimated at 3.5m in length still sporting her acoustic tag that we deployed in December of last year. With the arrival of “Paisley” was also two other females, one, similar in size and with many bite marks along its trunk that we had not seen yet this season and another larger female with many scars around its snout and white pigmentation on the dorsal fin. Fantastic to see some new animals entering the bay for the season. We yet again saw “Sarko”, “Mulfur” and “Pieter” as well as another one of our recently tagged sharks, a male affectionately and appropriately nicknamed “Feisty” for his active behaviour.
What a privilage to be able to experience the magnificence of these sharks.
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.
