24/12/2017
Location: Joubertsdam
Water Temperature: 14.2°C + 14.8°C + 15.3°C + 16.2°C
Depth: 9.0m + 9.8m + 9.0m + 11.2m
Visibility: 0.5m + 0.5m + 0.5m + 0.5m
Number of Sharks: 1 + 0 + 0 + 1
Conditions: Bright, warm day with a slight increasing wind and average swell rolling through.
Another early start, with the christmas lights in Gansbaai sparkling, we wondered what presents we’d be blessed with today at sea. Nce on anchor it didn’t take long for us to have a beautiful White shark approaching the boat. It was Mini Nemo, back again for the 3rd consecutive day. He was up to his usual antics, stalking the bait and decoy from below, disappearing, then suddenly flying out of the water with Sally the seal decoy in his mouth. It seems as if his superb hunting skills are getting better and better as he is great at getting our decoy.
Today, the sharks were a little elusive on our second trip, but we managed to get some nice passes from the Copper sharks for the first cage. We also had a Short-tailed stingray come up to investigate the bait as pictured below. A Cape Fur seal quickly made a appearance at the back of the boat before retreating into the depths.
Our third trip of the day laucnhed with brilliant sunshine sparkling across the bay like glitter. After a short wait, a Copper shark came by for a visir giving some beautiful views of it’s entire body. We didn’t have a White shark this trip however the coupld of Copper sharks that we had ensured that everyone on board had a great view. A handful of sharks on a beautiful day.
The fourth and final trip of this Christmas Eve launched into a bit of a stronger wind coming through, however whilst it made the boat ride and anchor a little choppy it allowed for a nice scent trail to form to try to attract those sharks. We had Copper sharks around just after anchoring, making some fantastically close passes by our group in the first cage, however these disappeared and soon the reason why was known as Mini Nemo made a ambush attempt on the bait line, hurtling himself our of the water to everyones surprise. This shark is always great to have around and he spent the rest of the trip appearing and disappearing, with some slow cruising but also some fast approached, quick turns and leaps. A fantastic finish to the day, this trip really did get a great WHITE Christmas…
If you are looking to get up close and personal with the great white shark then White 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.
