Late September: Cage-diving Interns!
Thanks to Marine Dynamics in Gansbaai (http://www.sharkwatchsa.com/index.php),
SASC’s first-ever interns Nic and I, and visiting scientist Kat, were able to go cage-diving with great white sharks on Tuesday 21st September. Although Kat and I had both cage-dived with white sharks before, it was still sure to be amazing, and for first-timer Nic, mind-boggingly so!
Meag dropped us off just before 8am for our yummy breakfast spread provided for all cage-diving customers by the company, including hash browns. Nic and I studiously cleaned our cameras, lenses and underwater housings with dust blowers and microfibre pens, filled up on coffee and tea, then headed upstairs for the intro briefing by Marine Dynamics intern Zach. Life-jackets on - we headed excitedly onto the boat and enjoyed the gorgeous views on the top deck heading out. A mere (what felt like) 20 minutes we were already at a good site for the day and the cage was dropped down, and the chumming began with fish oil and fish heads, the air and sea heavy with anticipation...
And then there they were! Or at least there one 3.5 metre great white shark was, to start with, approaching the boat, bait-line and coming back round repeatedly for more investigations of the source of the tasty smells in the water... The first group geared up in very new (or extremely well-maintained) and stylish wetsuits, booties and hoods, pulled on masks diligently washed and cleaned by the Marine Dynamics interns and volunteers, and given a 4-6 kg weight belt to minimise buoyancy in the water, and climbed down into the cage for the show!
We were determined to go in the same group together, so we took our last pre-cage photos from top-deck, geared up quickly and awaited our turn. It seems the wait allowed the shark to warm up a bit and get a bit more inquisitive, and then another, and another one again, joined the first one, and finally it was our turn to jump in! The staff up top keeping watch and throwing the bait line shout, “Down, down, down! Divers, the shark, down left, down left!”...
And so we draw our breaths quickly, and jump ourselves down below water-level, hooking our toes under the provided bar near the bottom of the cage, as instructed, and grabbing the lower hand bar inside the cage, away from potential sharky teeth... And see one the world’s most amazing creatures enter our view outside the lower left corner of the cage where I am, and then swim past the front of our cages and our stunned eyes, and head for the fish on the end of the bait line, never catching it before it gets pulled up out of the water.
It’s hard to describe the surreal experience of watching an apex predator less than a metre away from us ‘hunt’ for food... And the stunningly beautiful eyes of the great white as they watch you, watching them. I have cage-dived a few times now but each time is no less beautiful or surreal than the last. Especially knowing that these special creatures are listed as vulnerable on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Red List (http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/3855/0), and the increasing threats they are under from commercial long-lining as by-catch, the mostly illegal shark-finning industry, and many other factors, not the least global warming impacts on the ocean’s environment. And imagine the disastrous trophic effects that the removal of species at the top of the food chain would have on the ocean’s ecosystem!
We stayed in for at least 20 minutes, though it felt like much longer in the 16 degree water, but never tired of the sharks making passes in front of our cage over and over again. On the way back we were lucky to witness two beautiful southern right whales playing and rolling repeatedly in front of our boat, and then watch the hundreds of seals chilling and playing on smelly Seal Island. Life’s pretty good! And if I’m not mistaken by Nic and Kat’s repeated squeals of happiness going into and coming out of the cage, the other girls agree too!
It’s important to note the unfounded fear of many people of these beautiful creatures, perhaps partly perpetrated by fictional media like the Jaws films, and maybe again by the upcoming Halle Berry film Dark Tide. Save Our Seas produced an interesting article on why white sharks have every bitten people, and explains the extremely rare times this has ever occurred in history, they were investigative, mostly non-fatal, nibbles to determine that humans, in fact, are not their food of choice at all, in terms of calories, fat content, etc (http://saveourseas.com/articles/why_do_white_sharks_bite_people). And with less than 60 attacks of any species of sharks on people each year, with only a handful being fatal, it seems pretty obvious that jumping into a car and getting on the road is a much more dangerous place to be than around white sharks! But perhaps I’m preaching to the converted here...
There are sometimes suggestions by the public that cage-diving might encourage numbers of white shark attacks around the Western Cape, and condition the creatures to see the cage-diving boats as a regular food source, but as the bait-lines are pulled out before the shark has a chance to eat it (except for a tiny amount of times when the staff member is not quite quick enough), and there is no real scientific evidence to support the theories. Obviously research continues to be conducted to find out more of this great fish’s habits and lifestyle, but the public awareness on shark biology and conservation that cage-diving operators provide through this tourism instrument aids the creatures’ protection by showing the average person that the creature is indeed graceful, beautiful, and not aggressive towards humans. And by protecting the apex predators in our oceans we are helping ensure a healthy marine ecosystem and food web, which helps maintain an overall earth ecosystem and food web, which we are very much a part of, so is good for us in the end!
But back to the blog; white shark cage-diving is an amazing experience I’d encourage anyone to have, especially those who car for our earth and its environment. More often than not you will end up a shark lover if you weren’t to begin with... and that’s the coolest club to be in ;)
Many thanks again to Marine Dynamics for fantastic life experience, and keep your eyes peeled for a post on our first ever White Shark Training Program where we at SASC conducted shark biology and conservation modules with staff from various operators in the white shark cage-diving industry, with much positive feedback from our participants!
Cheers,
Christine W. Chan
SASC Intern
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