Sharkwatch SA Blog

Marine Dynamics received the Future Forward Thinkers for Visitors Experience award from Cape Town Tourism at the Annual General Meeting held at the CTICC on 24 October 2018. This category is awarded to a Cape Town Tourism Member who successfully engages visitors in their sustainability efforts and celebrates that tourism can be a force for good without compromising on visitor enjoyment. Marine Dynamics met the core values of providing visitors with memorable experiences and being committed to operating sustainably. The award highlighted how Marine Dynamics and associated business create awareness and encourage behaviour change in visitors. 

Your Choice Makes A Difference is the motto of responsible tourism award winners, Marine Dynamics and sister company Dyer Island Cruises. Marine Dynamics tourism hub offers five-star shark cage diving and whale watching/eco tours in the unique Dyer Island ecosystem of Gansbaai. The companies are Fair Trade Tourism certified and through their environmental project, the Dyer Island Conservation Trust, are making a real difference for conservation and the community.   

CEO, Wilfred Chivell, was there to receive the award from Minister Derek Hanekom. 
“Our tourism partnerships and the support of the tourism industry are critical to the success of our conservation model and we are grateful to be recognised for the work we do. It is a win for our team and the marine species we work with,” said Chivell.


Cape Town Tourism Chairperson, Enver Mally, Marine Dynamics CEO, Wilfred Chivell and Minister of Tourism, Derek Hanekom.

From the moment guests arrive they will note the display of fishing line and the unique fishing line bin with images of how marine animals can be entangled. They arrive to the only privately owned southern right whale skeleton display enhanced with baleen plates, eye/ear nerve connection and a replica of the heart. This display is accompanied by two dolphin specimens and a display of artefacts of the Birkenhead Shipwreck. We have informational boards on the toilet doors, as well as infographics of our shark studies, in the shark briefing room and on the website.

Visitors experience the marine world with an onboard marine biologist. They learn about sharks and other marine species through an educational video briefing and are introduced to the science by the biologist. The platform of daily observational data on species is critical to our globally recognised science that can ultimately influence conservation decisions. While on the boat, the team take daily readings of sea temperature, water oxygen levels and log each sighting in detail. This environmental parameter monitoring is used in behavioural studies. Fin ID photos are taken of white sharks and humpback dolphins for population studies. The team also collects southern right whale skin and faeces samples for genetic studies. Visitors become part of this experience. Should there be any waste at sea, the team will collect it from the boat. Any seabirds in need are also rescued if required, and sometimes rehabilitated penguins are released from our whale boat, close to the island, their natural breeding habitat. Shark cage divers have even witnessed the team rescue a white shark from fishing line. 

Across the associated business within the Marine Dynamics tourism hub all attempts to minimise waste are made and ongoing recycling. There are no plastic bottles used on the shark boat, no small sachets used in the restaurant, no plastic bags allowed, no straws and we use grey water where possible for watering of gardens, and use bio balls in the washing machines. We have our own vegetable garden which benefits from the wet waste compost, and also reduces food miles. We use a solar geyser and low energy light bulbs throughout. We minimise our carbon footprint and invest in low emission boat engines. 
No tour is complete without a stop at the African Penguin and Seabird Sanctuary There is no fee to visit the APSS but rather a donation box and the coffee and curio shop on site feeds into the funding model. Visitors that financially support the conservation projects proves a direct translation into action of the success of the experience.