We were back on the water today after a day off due to some high winds, so we were unsure what to expect! On arrival in the Shallows this morning we were delighted…
A slight drizzle this morning, but not to fear, the water is wet anyway…
The North-Wester was blowing with full force today, making for some choppy sea conditions however, 7 sharks made it all worth it in the end…
Finally we were able to make it out to see today, after a massive cold front endured for a full seven days…
Another spectacular weather day, the sharks were a bit naughty and kept us waiting a bit though…
It was a bit chilly going out today and we did have a light drizzle at our dive sight, but all and all it was worth it! Our dive site allowed us to view the sharks and the seals from up close and personal. It is really nice to be able to see how the hunter and his pray behave around each other in such close proximity. The seals are always vigilant and on alert whereas the sharks are always waiting for the opportune moment to strike and we were right smack in the middle of it! We had two satellite tagged sharks arrive on scene today, “Brenda” and “Dorien”. It has been quite a while since we last sighted “Dorien”, nevertheless always nice to see a familiar face. The largest shark today was around the 4 meter mark with heaps of parasite activity around its tail, we’ve been seeing this shark quite regularly over the past few weeks. A great time at sea as per usual! On that note, I did include one photo (nr.3) on how not to take a brilliant shark photo :)…
Once again we encountered some swelly conditions when making our way out towards Shark Alley, but fortunately the channel provided us the perfect venue for our shark cage diving. We had zero waiting time and our very first shark was the biggest one of the day, a behemoth 4.3 meter individual. It made several passes in the beginning and returned again later for a second and third look at the cage! The seals on Geyser Rock were being particularly noisy today. It would seem that they were not being very appreciative of the fact that we were getting along so well with their enemy! All and all it was a fantastic trip; it was unfortunate that our first group of clients did not get to see the massive pod of bottlenose dolphins which we sighted on our second trip! Sorry guys, this at least gives you an excuse to come visit us again! See you soon…
Today was the first time that we were able to go out to sea in the past few days, on account of a bad weather front moving past! We had some wet and windy days, but I am happy to report that the sun was out in full force once again. It definitely was not a flat sea day, but our boat was purposely built for conditions like today and even though we were the only boat on the water, we had an amazing time! Upon our arrival in Shark Alley, Zane was the first one to spot a shark just off the bow of the boat. As soon as the cage was tide onto the boat we started to put our first divers into the water. Our third shark was massive at around 4.3 meters in length; it was unfortunate that this shark did not stick around though! We also had “Nemo” pay as a visit, he looks very well considering he is missing his right pectoral fin as well as the top of his dorsal! Just to put the final cherry on the trip, we hosted a very brief foam party which you can see in the photos. All in a day at Marine Dynamics! We go above and beyond to keep you happy :)…
Even though it wasn’t a flat day on the sea, we still had some awesome sunny conditions! The voyage towards our dive sight and back was very entertaining for most of the guests on board, however some did mention that their bums were not equipped to handle all of the bumps :)! The dive site itself offered the perfect protection from the swell and wind conditions, well done to the crew! It was great that the waiting time was virtually zero until the sharks arrived; our visibility today was very variable. At times we had visibility all the way down to the sea bed (5 meters) and other times it turned more murky, unfortunately there are always factors beyond our control. The sharks were giving some lovely passes by the cage, but they were reluctant to come up and pose for my camera today, hence the limited number of shark pics today! I’ll get you next time sharkies…PS. the skate on the last pic was released unharmed.
The weather today was an added bonus to the phenomenal shark viewing! I am pretty sure that everyone left the boat with a tan today. We had some great sightings of other animals today, there was a hagfish at the back of the boat and it did venture into the cage at times! Giving some of our guests quite a fright :)! The highlight of today’s trip must have been “Kevin”, a small Cape Cormorant who thought he was a super hero! This bird had absolutely no fear of the massive 4.5 meter sharks that were around the cage today, he made a game of chasing the sharks around the boat! This bird also came into the cage on several occasions in order to see what our guests were doing, a truly fascinating individual. A White morph Southern Giant Petrel (Macronectes giganteus) was spotted on the horizon and it was noted that the bird was injured. We promptly dispatched our sister company Dyer Island Cruises to the area and they were able to save the bird! We had two very large sharks today of which “Slash fin” was one of them; he however did not come close to the cage today but rather remained at a distance. A real entertaining day…