Guest comments: “Great experience, great service, great food, great memories!” – Amine
“Great experience! Well worth the money and time!” – Simen + Jonas
“Guide was super informative. Volunteers and crew were super attentive. Sharks were super awesome!” – Sam + Jo
21/04/2018
Location: Joubertsdam
Water Temperature: 13.6’C + 13.8 C
Depth: 8.5 m + 8m
Visibility: 4.0 m + 2-1m, decreasing towards the end of the second trip.
White Sharks Seen: 5 + 4
Conditions: Little to no swell with a very light breeze and amazing visibility underwater for this time of year.
Waiting for a shark to approach Slashfin? Not today! Our first trip of the day launched into another beautiful sunrise, this one with a bit more orange, creating a warming effect to a chilly morning. Everyone had just began to get suited up into their wetsuits when our videographer, Luke, spotted a large white shark approaching the boat. The excitement level rose and our first group of divers quickly pulled their hoods up and climbed into the cage. This shark was a bit shy at first, staying deep beneath the boat. It eventually decided to come say hi to our divers. It was a shark we saw yesterday, approximately 3.8 meters long with a bite mark on its left side by the gills. It gave everyone some beautiful views disappearing into the depths. Our next shark was a stunning 4.8 meter white shark that we’ve seen recently, with a large patch of parasitic copepods near the top right of its head. The previous times that we’ve seen this shark, it cruised slowly in front of the cage, however today it showed us the true power and speed of a mature white shark as it darted from the front of our boat to the seal decoy. What a sight to see! We had a quick visit from Clampy, the 3.8 meter female that has been hanging out in the bay, and shortly after another 3.8 meter white shark with a fresh injury along the right side of its body came by. This shark stayed with us for the rest of the trip, occasionally disappearing for a few minutes as a 2.5 meter juvenile made a few attempts at the seal decoy and bait line. We also got to see a lone box jelly drift by in the current, and a short tailed stingray rising from the sea floor to see what was happening on the surface.
For our second trip of the day, we launched around brunch time and wasted no time getting back to cage as we were all eager to catch sight of one of nature’s most iconic predators. On board today, many were hoping to tick the “White Shark” off their bucket list, with others wanting nothing more than to make their White Shark Dream a reality. We also had Gillian and Lin join us today, two “senior” superstars proving that you’re never too old to be young, wild and free. After a bit of a wait, we had our first Great White Shark make an appearance. This gorgeous white had a nasty cut on her side, which we’re hoping will heal up pretty soon. The second shark to grace us with it’s presence was a smaller one, coming in at a mere 2m ( the size of a tall man), with this little one only giving us one deep pass, we waited in anticipation for our next arrival.
“Bitey” a very enjoyable male came through next, giving us some of the action he is slowly becoming famous for. The last shark of the day was a beautiful, sneaky girl who came for the bait like a silent killer. Ambushing from below, she moved slowly towards lure at the surface, moving almost poetically as she investigated the bait line. Sharks have a really bad reputation for being violent and aggressive creatures, so it was absolutely wonderful to watch this girl sneak up on us in such a gentle way. Once everyone had had the opportunity to dive, we made our way back to Kleinbaai photos stored in the cameras in our hands and memories stored in our heads and our hearts.
If you are looking to get up close and personal with the great white shark then 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.
