Guest Comment: “Awesome staff! Very informative and gave us an amazing experience! Thanks!” – Lisa
“Amazing experience! Very professional, instructive, and enjoyable for my 10 year old and me. Thanks!” – Bernardo + Julio
“Amazing expeirnce. Found out lots about the sharks and the conservation work done here. Also it helped confirm the misconceptions surrounding sharks and show how majestic and gentle they really are. Lucky enough to see 4 as well. Crew were lovely to top it off.” – Megan
31/12/2016
Location: Joubertsdam
Water Temperature: 17.7’C + 17.3’C + 18.6’C
Depth: 10.1 m + 8.7 m + 8.8 m
Visibility: 1.0 m + 1.0 m + 0.5 m
Number of Sharks: 4 + 6 + 4
Conditions: The perfect way to end the year with the sun shining, the wind lightly blowing, and very little swell.
Trip 1
After a great summer season so far, we were anxious to see how the last day of 2016 would end. It turned out that we were blessed with some beautiful sharks! Our first trip of the day began with a large 3.8 meter white shark with several scars just in front of its dorsal fin, and a white mark on the bottom of the left side of the dorsal fin. It was joined by a 2.9 meter male white shark with a jagged dorsal fin. Soon “Mini Rosie” arrived. She is one of our favorite sharks, with a rosie on each side of her dorsal fin. These rosies are like birthmarks that humans get, and just like humans, not every shark has one. “Mini Rosie” is special in that she has two! This trip ended with a 2.7 meter clean white shark with no distinct markings.
Trip 2
Our second trip of the day began suddenly with “Paisley” flying out of the water with the seal decoy in her mouth. “Paisley” is a 3.6 meter female white shark who has an acoustic tag on her right side just below her dorsal fin. This was placed about 13 months ago by the Dyer Island Conservation Trust. Her movements will help us better understand these curious creatures behaviors. We spotted 2 sharks approaching in the distance. The first shark turned out to be “Drooly” a 2.5 meter white shark with an injury to its jaw. The second was “Mini Rosie” back again. She and “Paisley” passed the cage several times together, swimming towards each other with the most graceful movements I’ve ever seen. It was amazing to see these two females, both of the same size, calmly swimming together. “Droopy” disappeared for a bit then came back with a 2.7 meter white shark that has white marks down it’s right side that looked like a zig zag. Our last 2 sharks of this trip were very large sharks. One was a 4.0 meter long male who was very dark in coloration and had faint scratch marks on his dorsal fin. The other was a 3.8 meter white shark who had very few distinct markings- just a few scratches to the snout.
Trip 3
Our last trip of the year began with 2 juvenile white sharks. One was a 2.0 meter white shark with abrasions to its caudal peduncle- the fleshy area that connects the body to the tail. The other was a 2.2 meter white shark that we’ve seen around a lot lately and has bite marks on the top of its head and notches in its dorsal fin. After a bit of time “Mini Rosie” reappeared, then our last shark of the last trip of the year was my personal favorite, “Paisley.” We ended this year with a splash, and are looking forward to seeing what 2017 has in store for us! Happy New Year to all!
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.
