Guest comments: “Awesome crew, massive sharks, best day in a while, we’ll never forget! Thank you.” – Frederico + Fillippo
“Awesome experience, very educational. Great work trying to save the sharks!” – Ryan
“It was an amazing experience! Lots of shark activity, highly thoughtful staff, and amazing shark facts. Thank you!” – Wellington
“A great trip – thank you very much for this incredible experience.” – Noto
“We had a great experience that we will never forget. Two great whites, up close and personal!! So cool!!!!” – The McCool Family
12/27/2017
Location: Joubertsdam
Water Temperature: C + C + C
Depth: m + m + m
Visibility: m + m + m
Number of Sharks: 1 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2
Conditions: A gorgeous day with a small swell and a little bit of chop.
Slashfin launched early and made its way into the shallows to find its anchor spot, and hopefully some white sharks. Once on anchor the copper sharks and a short-tailed stingray appeared, keeping everyones attention for much of the trip, however once the last cage of divers was in the great white shark appeared, making for a successful first trip.
The second trip for this day was a family of 17 visiting from Madrid in Spain. The young families hit the water with much eagerness and excitement and we had the copper sharks and white sharks around quickly, yet after a great first cage the sharks disappeared. They finally showed themselves to still be around towards the end of our stay in the shallows. This was when ‘Mini Nemo’ came by, causing a stir, closely followed by a large and pale female that we have no documented this season and measuring in at approximately 4.0 meters in length.
Our third trip of the day launch with high hopes that Mini Nemo and the female would return for us. The female didn’t return, however Mini Nemo did do a quick pass, leaving when a shark we’ve nicknamed ‘Droopy’ came by. This is a white shark we spotted for the first time this time last year and has a notoriously bad smile. Half of his jaw looks as if it is drooping down, possibly from a serious injury or maybe a birth defect. He put on quite a show for our divers, continuously trying to get the seal decoy and bait line. It’s amazing to see how he’s grown and his behavior has changed as last year he was a bit smaller and quite docile.
Heading into the afternoon, Slashfin was back on the water for one more trip. We had the sharks quickly, with ‘Droopy’ to arrive. Soon after another male, similar in size with lots of scratches and a fresh spot wound to the cheek made an appearance. These two took it in turns to come by the boat and cage, getting nice and close for us all before they disappeared for the end of a fantastic trip.
As our last trip ventured out for the day, we hoped that the sharks would still be with us. It took a short wait, but the male with the cheek wound appeared, passing closely but staying deep. He eventually surfaced, showing off all of his battle wounds. Fortunately for him, sharks are remarkably fast at healing and his scars may fade over time. It was a great way to end a great day with great white sharks!
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.
