Daily Blog: 17 April 2024 | Shark Cage Diving...
Our trips today were cold but the water visibility was very clear!!
- Sightings: Great White Sharks, Bronze whaler and Short-tail stingray
- Location: Joubertsdam
- Water Temperature: Moderate
- Visibility: Poor
It was back to sea for the Slashfin crew after two days off the water as the Winter weather continues to hit in patches. We experienced some of these conditions with a bit of swell and wind still lingering however the shark sightings easy made us forget about these things.
The first trip launched a little later today, as conditions started to ease somewhat, and once we had found a suitable place to anchor we started our wait. The anchor changed three times, as our group of guests waited patiently for those big fish to turn up, and it was on our last anchor and within 45 minutes of us being due back onshore that the sharks hit, not one, not two, but three different Great White sharks within moments of each other. The first shark to arrive was Clampy, the estimated 4.5 metres magnificent female White shark, both stunning everyone with her size but also the active behaviour she exhibits around the boat. Soon after Clampy appeared a male, approximately 3.5 metres in length made its' presence known, again a very active individual but what was very exciting for us was that it was a new individual to the bay for the season! To round off the trip we had the large feisty female from the past few weeks come on by to join the other two. A big thank you to our guests this morning that were patient and understanding out on the sea, we appreciate it and are so happy that we were able to get to show you the Great White sharks.
The second trip of the day launched onto similar wild conditions as the first and once back on anchor the wild activity was on from the beginning as a Bronze whaler cautiously approached the boat but disappeared into the depths not to return for the rest of the trip as the big sharks came to play. This trip saw the same three sharks from earlier on in the day however there were two other additions, two fast and eager juvenile White sharks that we were lucky enough to encounter on Sunday's trips. The sightings we experienced on this trip were stunning with near-constant views of the sharks from start to finish of the tour. A Short-tail stingray also joined very briefly, not breaking the water's surface but creating a large, round dark shadow we could follow for a moment.
A day filled with spectacular shark encounters, a day we hope our guests will not forget anytime soon!
