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Photo
Gallery of shark cage dives & trips in South Africa
Sharing our world with you,
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page for new pictures & news of shark cage diving in South Africa, Whale watching in
South Africa, Great whites in South Africa and more about marine conservation in
South Africa.
Great White Shark cage diving trip 24 September 2007
Date:
24-09-07
Location: Joubertsdam
Sea
condition: flat calm
Water
Temperature: 15.1 C
Wind
direction: E
Current direction: W
Wind
speed: 5kts
Water
visibility: 2m
Cloud
coverage: 100% rain
Water
depth: 11.5m
Bait
Type: Patagonian Toothfish, butterfish, sardine.
Arrival time: 09:55am
No of
sharks sighted: 5
Respective individual lengths: 3m, 2m, 2m, 3m & 3m
An
eventful day out on Shark Fever, we had our first
shark within an hour of our arrival and a second not
long after that. These were 3 meters and 2 meters
respectively and the first had a hook in its left
jaw. Unfortunately these sharks didn't stay for to
long and we eventually moved anchor. This turned out
to be a much more successful position, we had our
first shark within five minuets and ended up seeing
3 in total, one juvenile and two adults. These did
stay around our boat and long enough for us to keep
viewing sharks until it was time to leave. We hope
you all enjoyed the sharks today. Regards, Alison
and Oliver
Photography and text Alison Towner and Oliver Jewell
Marine Dynamics
Great White Shark cage diving trip 23 September 2007
Date: 23-09-07
Location:
Joubertsdam
Sea
condition: moderate swells
Water
Temperature: 15 C
Wind
direction: W
Current
direction: E
Wind
speed: 15kts
Water
visibility: 2m
Cloud
coverage: 100% rain
Water
depth: 12m
Bait Type:
Patagonian Toothfish, butterfish, sardine.
Arrival
time: 09:30am
No of
sharks sighted: 5
Respective
individual lengths: 1.5-2m, 2.5m, 3.5m, 3-3.5m & 3m
Unfortunately it was a miserable day out at sea but at
the same time it turned out to be one of the best of the
month for shark action. On a day when many other boats
were struggling we attracted our first shark within half
an hour, a juvenile. This small shark moved quickly and
breached the water several times in succession in its
attempts to get the bait. The next shark we saw was a
2.5-3m female which dwarfed the small juvenile but was
soon in turn dwarfed by our third shark of the day. This
3.5m female is one we've come to know well over the last
few weeks, covered in scratch and bite marks it is very
distinctive and has been appropriately named 'Scratch'.
Scratch circled along with the second shark until it
left and then made spectacular breach after breach
giving us a fantastic display of strength and beauty.
One or two other sharks appeared but Scratch wasn't
deterred and stayed with us until it was time for us to
leave. We hope you enjoyed this fantastic day aboard
Shark Fever and hope to see you again in the future.
Regards, Alison and Oliver
Photography and text Alison Towner and Oliver Jewell
  
Photography and text Alison Towner and Oliver Jewell
Marine Dynamics
Great White Shark cage diving trip 22 September 2007
Date:
22-09-07
Location:
Joubertsdam
Sea
condition: moderate swells
Water
Temperature: 15.9 C
Wind
direction: W
Current
direction: E
Wind
speed: 15kts
Water
visibility: 2m
Cloud
coverage: 100% rain
Water
depth: 13m
Bait Type:
Patagonian Toothfish, Butterfish, sardine.
Arrival
time: 13:15am
No of
sharks sighted: 3
Respective
individual lengths: 3m, 3m & 2.5-3m
Not
exactly a lovely spring afternoon unfortunately but we
were lucky enough to see three great whites which made
several attempts at our bait throughout the afternoon.
Our first shark arrived after about ten minuets of us
starting to chum which is an excellent response. This
three meter female has a split at the top of its caudal
fin and has been observed from our boat several times in
the last few weeks. Our next shark looked very similar
to the first only without the split in its caudal fin
and was also a shark we've seen before. These two
circled and passed the bait several times before the
third shark of the afternoon appeared. This was a
slightly smaller shark but at 2.5-3m is still a very
impressive animal! The sharks didn't continually circle
the boat but the second and third shark did reappear a
couple of times each throughout the afternoon until the
end of our trip. We hope you had a great journey and
will take home some great memories. Many Thanks, Alison
and Oliver.
Photography and text Alison Towner, Anthony Melly and
Oliver Jewell
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Great White Shark cage diving trip 22 September 2007
Date:
22-09-07 (trip1)
Location:
Joubertsdam
Sea
condition: rough
Water
Temperature: 16.2 C
Wind
direction: W
Current
direction: E
Wind
speed: 15kts
Water
visibility: 2m
Cloud
coverage: 100% rain
Water
depth: 12.6m
Bait Type:
Patagonian Toothfish, butterfish, sardine.
Arrival
time: 09:25am
No of
sharks sighted: 5
Respective
individual lengths: 3m, 3m, 2.5m, 2m & 2.5-3m
A rough
day at sea but a great day for sharks! With the first
arrivng within half an hour we were lucky enough to see
as many as five sharks in total. At first these sharks
seemed a bit cautious with only a few attempts to take
the bait, but as time went on they became more and more
confident and before too long we had two or
three circling at once. The last shark we saw ambushed
the bait from below without giving us time to react and
get the bait out of the way, after a tug of war with our
skipper, (which got anyone in the vicinity of the cage
area completely soaked!) the bait eventually broke off
the line leaving the shark victorious. Eventually the
rough sea took its toll and with several passengers
feeling very uncomfortable we headed back home to
Kleinbaai habour. We hope you enjoyed the sharks we had
today and hope to see you again in the future. Many
thanks, Oli.
Photography and text Oliver Jewell Marine Dynamics
Great White Shark cage diving trip 21 September 2007
Date: 21-09-07 pm trip
Location: Joubertsdam
Sea condition: flat medium swells
Water Temperature: 16.1 C
Wind direction: NW
Current direction: SE
Wind speed: 15kts
Water visibility: 2m
Cloud coverage: 0
Water depth: 13m
Bait Type: Patagonian Toothfish, butterfish, sardine.
Arrival time: 13:05am
No of sharks sighted: 7
Respective individual lengths: 3m, 3.5m,
2.5m, 3m, 2.5m, 2.5 - 3m & 1.5m
Plenty of sharks sighted today on what was a
successful
trip! At one point we had one shark circling
the boat annother approaching the decoy and
a third following the decoy. This left us
surrounded by sharks and two almost hit each
other head on as they circled the boat.
These two evenly sized sharks then veered
off away from the boat not to be seen again.
Just as it seemed the day was winding down
and the decoy was being reeled in our 6th
shark of the day appeared and began to
charge, as hard as I tried I knew there was
only going to be one winner in this race -
and with a lightning strike Jorgi the seal
decoy was gone! The shark then came after
the bait and circled a little longer. Next
we had a juvenile shark under two meters in
length that couldn't be any more than a few
months old. Finally it was time for us to
pull anchor, pick up Jorgi and head back to
the habour. We hope you all had a great
time. Regards, Alison and Oliver.
Photography and text Alison Towner and
Oliver Jewell Marine Dynamics
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Great White Shark cage diving trip 21 September 2007
Date: 21-09-07 am trip
Location: Joubertsdam
Sea condition: flat medium swells
Water Temperature: 15.6 C
Wind direction: NNW
Current direction: SE
Wind speed: 5kts
Water visibility: 2m
Cloud coverage: 100%
Water depth: 10m
Bait Type: Patagonian Toothfish, butterfish, sardine.
Arrival time: 09:25am
No of sharks sighted: 5
Respective individual lengths: 3m, 2.5-3m,
3m, 2.5-3m & 3.3m
A very good day to see the sharks. We didn't
have to wait long and had a total of five
sharks sighted. The first was a 3 meter
female, about the average size for the
sharks in the area. She didn't stay for to
long but made a few attempts at the bait.
The second shark was slightly smaller and
went for the seal decoy. Our third shark of
the day was also 3 meters and is a shark
we've been seeing for the last week or so,
she is distinguishable by a zebra style
pattern on her dorsal fin. This has probably
been caused by a rope burn. She circled the
boat and made several vertical approaches at
the bait. Our fourth shark was just under 3
meters and had whitish pigment on its dorsal
while our final shark was a big very dark
female over the 3 meter mark. Named 'Jill'
she was a very active shark and very
determined to get a hold of our bait
expertly handled by our skipper Anthony. We
hope you enjoyed some amazing sharks today.
Regards, Alison and Oliver
Photography and text Alison Towner and
Oliver Jewell Marine Dynamics
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Great White Shark cage diving trip 20 September 2007
Date:
20-09-07
Location:
Joubertsdam
Sea
condition: medium choppiness and small swell
Water
Temperature: 15.6 C
Wind
direction: NW
Current
direction: SE
Wind
speed: 10kts
Water
visibility: 3m
Cloud
coverage: 80%
Water
depth: 11.5m
Bait Type:
Patagonian Toothfish, tuna, sardine.
Arrival
time: 09:30am
No of
sharks sighted: 3
Respective
individual lengths: 3.5m, 3m & 2.5-3m
We had
some fantastic sharks on what was a very exciting trip
out on Shark Fever! After a slow start Alison decided
she'd give the chumming a go herself and as soon as she
was done we had our first two sharks within minuets of
each other. Both followed our chum slick up to the decoy
and then as we reeled it in began to approach the bait.
Its not often we get two sharks circling the boat at the
same time but today we did, each taking turns at making
some spectacular attempts at the bait. A couple of times
they even struck the cage, this is something we try to
avoid as much as possible but unfortunately can't be
helped sometimes. At one point whilst we were changing
the divers over one of the sharks decided to close the
cage for us slamming it shut with an awesome display of
power. We also had a seal wonder by our boat, perhaps
not the most intelligent place for it to go for a swim
but as far as we could see it survived this time! We had
one more shark before the end of our trip this 2.5-3m
female circled with the second shark (also a female) and
approached the bait. Finally it was time to return to
harbor but we hope everyone enjoyed themselves and had a
fantastic experience. Many Thanks Alison and Oliver.
 
 
Photography and text, Alison Towner and Oliver Jewell
Marine Dynamics
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Great White Shark cage diving trip 19 September 2007
 
Date: 19-09-07
Location: Joubertsdam
Sea condition: Flat calm
Water Temperature: 15.4 C
Wind direction: SW
Current direction: NE
Wind speed: 0kts
Water visibility: 3m
Cloud coverage: 100% foggy
mist
Water depth: 12.1m
Bait Type: Longfin
tuna, sardine.
Arrival time: 09:45am
No of sharks sighted: 9
Respective individual
lengths: 3.0m, 3.0m, 3.5m, 3.0m, 3.5m, 2.5m,
4.0m, 2.5m, 2.5m
Note: Foggy conditions and
very flat seas made an 'eary' silent atmosphere
as we anchored Shark Fever.. We were very
fortunate however as after an hour a large 3
meter female shark arrived along our chum
slick. A very successful trip was had in all,
with a total of 9 sharks. All were identified as
females, most having pigmentation patches on the
dorsal fins. Some excellent viewings from the
cage with the sharks breeching the surface
occasionally. Many thanks to all, regards.
Photography and Text
Alison Towner and Oliver Jewell Marine Dynamics
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SHARK
CAGE DIVING 
