Africa 2015 - Day #11

Arriving at our Cage Dive Location

 

Marine Dynamics - our cage dive operator

 

 

Wow - that was close

 

Inside the Cage

That's the shot!

Close-up action

 

 

The Great White - a foot by the cage

8 folks in the cage

Herm - in the cage

Head out of water - no scuba

a victory ride back to shore

 

Seal Island

Great White - feed on the seals in Shark Alley

Friday, June 26th

Today it finally happened - we were successful in our attempt to cage dive with great white sharks (one of the deadliest creatures on earth) - in the most shark-invested waters in the world.

We awoke to great weather.  No cancellation emails today.  Our pickup was set for 9:30am.  We walked down to the security gate for pickup.  A 10-person van arrived to shuttle us 2.5 hours to our diving site (Gansbaai).  Upon arrival we were provided lunch and a briefing video.  We were informed that the morning dive had yet to see any sharks - they were going to stay out a little longer until one came in.

We took a short trip over to a penguin shelter and learned more about their habitat and feeding while waiting for the morning boat to arrive.  After 45 minutes or so, we were ready for our turn at the title.  We were provided a wetsuit, foot coverings, and a huge orange rain jacket.  A 5-minute walk to the pier - we then boarded our boat.

A little nervous for sure, the boat ride to our dive location was only about 15 minutes off shore --- right by Seal Island and Shark Alley, the locations often talked about and witnessed during Shark Week on the Discovery Channel.  Upon arrival to our dive location, I stood up from my second level seat and immediately saw this huge figure passing next to the boat.  Wow!!  A great white - live and in-person.

The crew told us to quickly get in our gear.  The shark cage was already in the water from the earlier dive.  It was a long rectangular-shaped cage that could hold about 8 divers.  It was secured to the boat.  The first group got into the cage as I watched from above.  The cage had a metal footing that you could stand on with your head above water.  The guides would throw out a seal decoy and some fish heads to lure the sharks.  The idea was - the crew would yell out:  "Down left, down middle, down right" - when a shark was approaching.  In the cage, you would hold your breadth and go under water.  There was a foot-hold you could place your feet under to keep yourself underwater.  Then - you could take pictures as the shark swam by.

After 30 minutes and many shark encounters, it was my turn in the cage.  I was positioned in probably the best viewing spot - far right in the cage.  This was the location where the fish heads where continually roped in/out.  Note - sharks were not fed - the fish heads would be pulled away before they actually got there.

Jumping into the 15 deg Celcius water was heart-stopping at first.  It took me a little while to understand the best way to view the sharks.  I had a disposable camera.  Crazy Stuff!  "Down left!" - was called out by the dive guide.  Well - I was on the right side of the cage - but I went under the water anyway and held my breadth.  There, right there in front of me, was this huge great white - not more than a couple feet away.  Within my time in the cage, there was a couple instances where the shark bit down on the cage (not directly in front of me however).  We ended up seeing 4 different sharks on the day.  3 juvenile males and one adult male.

What an amazing experience!  Unbelievable to see such huge creatures underwater - and remarkable how close they came to the cage.  On several occasions, I could have reached out with my hand and touched the shark (I didn't do this obviously - but could have)

We were each given about 30 minutes in the cage.  We then took a boat ride through Shark Alley and were able to get some photos of Sea Island.  Really, really unique stuff! 

What a rewarding way to end our time in South Africa.  We had a 3-hr drive back to Cape Town (a car accident held up traffic a bit).  We then went out for a great dinner.  Some awesome conversation and even better food - all good for the last evening of our trip.