Guest Comment: “Great trip from obviously passionate people after my own heart. Thank you!” – Richard + Tracey
“An experience I’ve wanted to have for as long as I can remember. It didn’t disappoint. Thank you!!” – Matt
“We had a great time. Fantastic experience! Staff were absolutely great from start to finish. Thank you!” – Rob + Anna
18/09/2016
Location: Joubertsdam
Water Temperature: 15.2’C + 15.4’C + 15.6’C
Depth: 9.2m + 10.2 m + 11.1m
Visibility: 0.5m + 1.0m + 1.0m
Number of Sharks: 6 + 6 + 4
Conditions: calm day with a light breeze in the afternoon
Trip 1
Our first trip started with a short 10 minute wait before the first shark arrived. It was a recently tagged juvenile that is about 2.2 meters long. We’ve seen it quite a lot since it was tagged earlier this week and it will be great to see where it goes when it leaves Joubertsdam. We had 4 other juvenile great whites, one we’ve seen a lot lately and who was adopted a month ago named “Sarko.” This is a 2.7 meter very very active shark. We also had a visit from a short-tailed stingray. Everyone on board was in awe of how large the stingrays wingspan was. As our trip ended, we returned to the Great White House via Gansbaai Harbor, and spotted a whale just before we entered the harbor. What a site to see!
Trip 2
The second trip started with a visit from a recently adopted shark named “A Shark Has No Name.” It was quickly followed by a large 4 meter shark with a scar running along its dorsal fin. This trip was very lucky and had visits from 3 more big sharks! One was 3.8 meters and two were 4.2 meters long. These big beauties are always an incredible site to see, especially one that was really fat. This could be from being full from a recent hunt or possibly even from being pregnant. This trip was also fortunate enough to see a stingray and humpback dolphins!
Trip 3
Our last trip didn’t get to see and dolphins or whales, but they did get a glimpse of a stingray. They also had several visits from 4 stunning sharks. One of these sharks is “Scarlett,” a crew favorite. She is a world famous 4 meter long female covered head to tail in scars. She’s known for her calm and calculated maneuvers, however today it appeared that the full moon may have made her a bit moody. She swam below the surface, barely showing her face. Until she suddenly left out of the water after the seal decoy, mesmerizing everyone on board. We were also visited by a 2.1 meter shark with a light patch on top of its head and 3 white scars on its left side by its tail. A 2.8 meter shark came by and it was absolutely covered in faint white marks. They looked a bit like rope marks, except it looked like a lot of them. I think this shark may have possibly been a product of bycatch and was fortunately released and is thriving. It spent the rest of our trip with us, only leaving when a large 4.1 meter shark appeared. It’s always interesting to see how age affects a sharks personality. Young sharks, like the one with the possible net marks, tend to be very active, while older sharks, like this 4.1 meter shark tend to be calculated in their movements and appear to know exactly what they’re doing. The big ones may move slow at first, but when they breach you can feel the speed and power all the way on the top deck of the boat. It’s an absolutely amazing feeling and our divers were lucky enough to experience this several times! Days like today remind us just how lucky we are to see such amazing creatures.
If you are looking to get up close and personal with the great white shark then Cage 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.
