Guest comment: “It was a very cool, unique experience!” – Niklas
“It was great to see the sharks so close and personal. Loved it!” – Chad + Michelle
“Great to be at eye-level! And we did get to look into his eyes! Water not too cold and got some great photographs too!” – Mary + Kurt
27/10/2017
Location: Joubertsdam
Water Temperature: 16.0°C + 16.1°C + 16.1°C + 16.1°C
Depth: 9.8m + 10.1m + 10.5m + 10.3m
Visibility: 0 – 0.5m
Number of Sharks: 3 + 2 + 1 + 1
Conditions: Slight swell and south-east winds with patchy cloud cover.
We launched bright and early this morning into conditions that finally seem to be calming down for the first time this week. We headed into the Shallows and onto anchor quickly amongst some of the other, earlier launching shark cage diving vessels and within 20 minutes we had our first White shark spotted. This was ‘Feisty’ the estimated 3.5m male that was tagged September 2016 and unfortunately six weeks ago spotted with line entanglement. His behaviour this trip held true to his name with some surprise approaches, fast movements and leaps above the waters’ surface. The second shark of the trip was a female very similar in size to ‘Feisty’, bearing some small wounds to the tip of the caudal fin, a shark that we recognise from a few weeks ago before the Orcas came through the area and the White sharks responded in going elsewhere. If two sharks were not enough we had our third and final shark show up during the final cage, a small male we saw two days ago, he displays some very active behaviour and stuck around for the rest of our trip. We had brief views of Copper sharks as well this trip however with a nearly constant activity from the White sharks the smaller species of shark seemed to want to keep their distance.
The second trip of the day launched and had a Copper shark around the boat very quickly however this shark made a retreat when the bigger sharks started to come in with the female from the first trip and the smaller male returning for this trip. Whilst the female did not stick around too much for the first trip she really was the star during this one as she made some beautiful and exciting approaches and passes. The Short-tailed stingray that some times graces us with it’s presence was back again today, gliding up through the murky depths to the surface. Before getting back to land one more sighting was had, a mother – calf pair of Southern Right whales!
The next trip was an exclusive for a copy joining us all the way from France. They enjoyed the view from the boats as the Copper sharks visited the boat and the smaller male from the morning trips made a return.
To finish of the day onboard Slashfin one more small group made there way out and much like the earlier two trips the Copper sharks appeared quickly. Soon after however came the White shark, with ‘Feisty’ the always active male shark returning to end the day in style!
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.
