Sharkwatch SA Blog

Guest comment: “Truly an amazing experience! Boat was awesome, crew was very skilled and personable, 1^st class from start to finish. Thanks!” - Robert

“I finally see how graceful these animals are and was amazing and inspired by the team and how everyone is working together! You guys rock!” - Sofie

“One of the best experienced! The entire trip was extremely enjoyable!” - Vignash + Darshana

13/05/2015

Location: Wilfred's Klippe
Water Temperature: 14.5'C
Depth: 18.7m
Visibility: 5.0m
Number of Sharks: 10
Conditions: Overcast skies with low swells and increasing winds.

Guess where we were today?...The Island! Today marked the first day of what is may be our Winter diving season and what a day it was. We anchored just to the South East of Geyser Rock close to a site we know as Wilfred's Klippe, we had tried the Island previously about 2 weeks ago and had no luck, however today was much different. The first shark arrived 30 minutes after anchor and came crashing in with a bang as it leapt up at the bait line. This activity seemed to attract more individuals as new sharks continued to arrive after this. The majority of the sharks we saw today were over 3.5m in length and active, with the largest a big beautiful female with a size estimated at approximately 4.3m. This female had one very distinctive feature, other than her impressive size of course, and that was a distinctive rosie on her dorsal fin. Rosie's are white pigmentation naturally seen on the shark's dorsal or caudal fin. This rosie was so distinctive that one of our crew members instantly recognised her as “Hourglass”. This name comes from the shape of her pigmentation and she has been documented in our database since 2008 when she was a much smaller individual. Welcome back “Hourglass”, it is always fantastic for us to recognise a returnee especially one who has been visiting the bay for so many years and continues to do so whilst growing and appearing healthy! Moments after our sharks arrived an Indian yellow-nosed albatross was spotted gliding on the winds in the distance. This is one of a few species of Albatrosses that we can see in the area especially during the months of April and May. A nice sight for all with this bird classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List 2004. Not to be out done by the birds and fish we also had a gentle marine giant come close by, we are getting closer everyday to our Whale season however there is always that very slight chance throughout the rest of the year of spotting one of the other species out in the bay, like today when the spout and dorsal fin of a Bryde's Whale was spotted about 100m away passing by. A quick drive by Geyser Rock to look at the Cape Fur Seals rounded of this amazing day. A fantastic start to what we hope will be a fantastic season at the Island...

If you are looking to get up close and personal with the great white shark then Shark Diving in South Africa, 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.