Mandla handling the bait, with Sibo in the background
I love these creatures
My day
started when my alarm went off at 4:30 this morning, and it was actually
surprisingly easy to get out of bed that early. Sure, it was about two hours
before the sun came up, but knowing that we were going out to see sharks made
it worth it. After heading up to the garage at the other house to help load all
the wetsuits and chum into the truck, then following it down to the harbor to
load it all up into the boat, we returned to our house to have some coffee,
apply sunblock, and relax for a bit while the guests arrived at the office and
got their introduction and briefing. We’d heard yesterday evening that there
were three trips planned for today- the first had room for seven volunteers,
the second for five, the third for all ten of us. I was on the first and third
trips, with a break in between. The first trip launched at 6:30, as usual-
Grant likes to be the first boat out on the water in the morning. Dawn usually
seems to be one of the best times of day to see the sharks, so it’s definitely
worth it.
We saw a
total of three sharks on the first trip, one of which was pretty feisty and
gave the guests quite a show. I spent most of my time up on the fly deck getting
pictures. It was a pretty windy, choppy morning out on the water, and some of
the guests ended up getting seasick. Thankfully, it seems like I’ve conquered
seasickness. I remember getting it a little on the first couple of trips out in
2015, and I was a bit worried that this time it would be the same, but I’ve
felt fine every trip.
At a little
after nine, we headed in from the first trip and, after taking the used
wetsuits off the boat and taking them up to the garage to wash, Beth and I
headed back to our house to make breakfast and relax for a little while (Lizzy
and Cake went on the second trip as well). A few hours later, at around
noonish, we returned to the harbor to go out on the third and final trip of the
day. As the boat was pulled back up on land, Lizzy called down to us that the
second trip hadn’t been as good as the first, so we were happy that we’d been
on the first one, then gotten a break. The third trip had all ten volunteers,
plus the crew members Bee, Mandla, Tom, Sibo and Grant, and ten clients. The
sharks weren’t as active at that time of day, as I expected, so we didn’t get
quite as much action as the first trip. But, it was made worth it near the end
of the trip, when we saw one of the biggest sharks I’ve ever seen. This
gorgeous shark was a male that was over four meters long and had a lot of girth
to him- our 3.6-meter cage was dwarfed next to him! Looking at him, it was
amazing to think that a female great white typically has to be about five
meters in order to reproduce and there have been sharks found that have
measured up to seven meters! Insane.
It was after
three by the time we headed back to the harbor, and nearly four by the time we
were done cleaning the wetsuits and the boat. It had been a long day out at sea
with the sharks, and we called it a success.
The weather
was a bit drizzly at times today, and the water was pretty rough, so we know
that tomorrow will be a no sea day, and the following day might be as well. Because
of that, some of the volunteers have decided to go out into town tonight after
dinner, and we’ve invited the crew to join us. Jerome has said he’ll give us a
ride, so he’s definitely in, and Bee said he’ll probably meet us as well. We’ll
see about the others. Either way, it should be a fun night out in Gansbaai.
I guess that’s
all the news for today. That four meter shark was probably the highlight of my
long day at sea- he was just beautiful! Tomorrow sounds like it’ll be a pretty
chill day here, so I may or may not make a blog post. I’ve actually considered
making a blog post focusing solely on the crew here at White Shark Projects, so
keep an eye out for that one. This post’s food for thought is one of my all
time favorite quotes: “Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul
remains unawakened.”- Anatole France
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