Guest Comment: “Amazing! Everyone was so great and knew so much about the sharks we saw!” – Brittany + Aryn
“Great experience! Playful whale, amazing sharks, and curious ray! Wonderful crew. Thank you!” – Carlos + Veronica
“Incredible experience. Very well organized. Well done Sarah & the crew!” – Sue
25/10/2016
Location: Joubertsdam
Water Temperature: 17.7’C + N/A + 18.2’C
Depth: 8.7 m + N/A + 8.1 m
Visibility: 1.0 m + N/A + 1.0 m
Number of Sharks: 11 + N/A + 11
Conditions: A perfect day to be at sea with the sun shining and a light breeze keeping the heat at bay.
Trip 2
Today was one of those days that we dream of having every day. It began quickly with a 10 minute wait on our first trip before the first shark arrived. It was a young 2.2 meter white shark with a large black line down its right side. The second shark to arrive was a 3.8 meter female with a white scar on the leading edge of its dorsal fin and a black scar just in front of the dorsal fin. We were fortunate to show these divers a shark that we’ve nicknamed “Fiesty” because of his very active personality. He is 2.7 meters long and has a tag on his left side just below his dorsal fin. That tag was attached about a month ago by the Dyer Island Conservation Trust and is crucial to helping us understand these beautiful creatures behaviors and movement patterns. We were also visited by “Chama Tica” a 3.8 meter female, “Meredith” a 4.0 meter female, “Vuvuzela” a 2.4 meter male, “Sarko” a 2.4 meter female, “Mollie” a 3.8 meter female, “Taryn-it-up” a 3.3 meter female, and “Chardonnay” a 3.2 meter female. So many sharks that we know! It’s a great feeling when you see the same sharks back in the bay time and time again. We had one last shark, a large 3.6 meter female with a white mark just before her dorsal fin.
Trip 2
Our second trip was with a film crew from the U.K. and they thoroughly enjoyed their time on board. Our last trip of the day launched with the sun shining brightly, a light breeze blowing on the trip out, and an active young whale spotted by the cage on our arrival! We were very lucky as it displayed quite a show, slapping its flippers and tail back and forth. I personally have seen this from shore, but never while at sea so it was a very exciting moment. After speaking with the guides from our sister company, Dyer Island Cruises, they told me that it was a young subadult that they’ve seen quite often. He is very interested in his tail and loves to do tail slaps and flop his tail back and forth in the air. Such an incredible site to see! We also had a 1 minute wait before the first shark arrived, a large 3.6 meter white shark with a copper tint to its skin. It was very quickly followed by a 3.8 meter female with a fresh bite mark across the back of her head. Another large female, “Chama Tica” rose from the depths, and they did a circle pattern together, then they each began circling the bait and decoy, both doing half breaches for each line. Another shark appeared, a very active 3.3 meter male white shark that flew after the decoy. He was determined to get it and succeeded bending one of “Sally” our seal decoys flippers. We also got to show this trip one of the recently tagged sharks. This one was a 3.6 meter shark with white scars on the leading edge of its dorsal fin. A 2.9 meter male white shark came by as well, with a very dark scar on its right side of its face in the cheek area and just above it gills. This trip also got to witness the beauty and grace of the Short-Tailed Stingray, a bottom dwelling animal related to sharks. We had the blessing of the presence of 2 juvenile white sharks, one very fast one that was 2.1 meters long and a baby white shark that was 1.7 meters long, and 3 large females each 4 meters long with distinct marks. The first had a fresh injury to the leading edge of the top lobe of its caudal fin. The second is one that we’ve been calling “Twitchy” as she has a strange twitch when she moves and her body is curved a bit like a question mark (?). She is very quirky in her movements and such a pleasure to see. The last of the large sharks had a large white rosie on its dorsal fin- a mark that is very similar to a birthmark. This trip ended on a high with another whale spotted just as we were about to pull into the harbor.
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.
