Guest Comments: “No sharks. Not for lack of effort though. Our hosts were great!” – Katelyn + Austin
“Fantastic! Staff was very attentive, friendly and accomodating!” – Jeff
“So great – loved all the shark info!” – Myranda, Matt + Ali
30/08/2017
Location: Joubertsdam
Water Temperature: 15.4°C + 15.6°C + 15.6°C
Depth: 8.9m + 10.4m + 9.8m
Visibility: 1m + 1m +1m
Number of Sharks: 0 + 2 + 2
Conditions: An overcast start to the morning with a bit of wind, that calmed throughout the day
We headed out this morning bright and early in the hopes of encountering a Great White shark. First on anchor in the bay, we waited patiently, then changed anchor and again waited patiently, one more anchor change, we hoped that the third time would be a charm. We did encounter a shark on this anchor, not a White shark but a Copper shark that was happy to come nice and close to the cage for those that wanted to get in the water with these beautiful animals. Unfortunately we headed back to land without a White shark sightings. We are truly grateful to all our guests that came through early this morning for a trip with us and we greatly appreciate their patience and understanding of the difficulties of working with wildlife.
We anxiously launched our second trip of the day, hoping that our luck would change. Once out on anchor eyes scanned the water for a glimpse of that bulky, dark shadow under the waters’ surface. Amazingly within 20 minutes we had our first White shark of the day make it’s appearance, ‘Sarko’ a juvenile female approximately 3.0m in length and one we have been able to identify for the last year came cruising into sight and creating a roar of excitment on board! She made a few beautiful passes before disappearing into the depths however she was replaced by a number of Copper sharks that like this morning made some fantastically close passes by the boat and cage. We had one more White shark appear before trips end as a large female, one we have seen recently but not frequently came speeding in from the left turned quickly and made another pass across the cage before disappearing. The Copper sharks stole the rest of the trip until right at the end as we were preparing to leave and ‘Sarko’ made a last appearance, turning up the activity levels and giving a fantastic view as a goodbye to our guests.
On our third trip, the wonderful ‘Scarlett’ joined us as we were gearing up to get into the cage, so we got some excellent above water shots of her gliding pass Slashfin this afternoon. But just as quickly as she arrived she disappeared, and in her place a couple of the Copper Sharks that we have been seeing over the most recent days joined us for some cage dive fun! Then out of nowhere the spectacular ‘Sarko’ arrived in style. She was on form for our guests, displaying her distinctive scarring down her left flank for them as she leapt out of the water. After around 15 minutes of action with Sarko, she departed to enjoy the rest of her evening, and we were once again joined by the Copper Sharks to finish out the trip.
A interesting day out in the sharky waters of Gansbaai!
If you are looking to get up close and personal with the great white shark then Great White Shark Cage 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.
