A BIG FISH EXPEDITIONS TRIP
REPORT
South African
Shark Diving Expedition 2013
THE MOST DIVERSE SHARK DIVING IN THE
WORLD!
Over the last two decades I have been lucky
enough to experience many of the world's great shark dives
but this was my first trip to South Africa. After just one
expedition, I'll go out on a limb and say that Cape Town and
Natal collectively offer the most diverse shark diving in
the world. The shark action that we experienced on this
year's trip was simply unparalleled!

A TANTALIZING GLIMPSE OF THE EASTERN CAPE
We started our shark safari in Umkomaas in
Natal Province on the Eastern Cape. We were a little early
for raggedtoothed sharks (aka sandtigers) and bull sharks so
we concentrated on blacktips and tigers and looked for other
species on Aliwol Shoal's beautiful soft coral reefs.
I have seen oceanic blacktip sharks in a
number of locations but always from a distance and then
usually just fleeting glimpses before they slip back into
the blue. For some reason, the oceanic blacktips in Umkomaas
are fearless of humans and more than happy to swarm the bait
and divers alike. I counted around 40 blacktips on our best
dive but there were likely even more.

A couple of tigers also approached the feed
but stayed tantalizingly deep so my images are pretty grainy. Add in a
pair of strikingly
patterned mantas and a whitetip on the reef and we were off
to a pretty good start. Unfortunately there are so many
sharks to see in South Africa that we only had two days to
dive around Umkomaas before heading to Cape Town on Africa's
southwestern tip. Next year I am running multiple trips and I
plan to dedicate an entire week long expedition to shark
diving around Umkomaas, Aliwol Shoal and Protea Banks so
that we get to shoot all of the species that divers see
there and have an opportunity to go after some of the rarer
shark species to boot.
 
THE WESTERN CAPE
Our main destination on this trip was Simon's
Town which is a quaint naval town on the southwestern tip of
Africa. On our first day there the weather was not great for
diving but we had one day slated for a game drive anyway so
we headed inland to shoot 'the big five' land animals in a
private reserve. Armed with telephoto lenses we dodged rain
squalls and came home with some great images of Africa's
iconic species but that was not why we were there and
everyone was hoping for some serious shark action the
following day.
  
SUPERB SEVENGILL ENCOUNTERS
Our second day in Simons Town day was calm
and the inshore viz was great so we dove in a protected area
known as Miller's Point where divers can swim with scores of
sevengill sharks, up to five species of endemic catsharks
and the illusive spotted gully shark which is a local member
of the houndshark family.
Like the blacktips in Aliwol, the sevengill
shark encounters in Cape Town are unique. These large and
curious cowsharks cruised back and forth in two's and
three's on all of our kelp forest dives, resulting in
unforgettable encounters for everyone and some stunning
images.

THE CATSHARK CAPITAL OF THE WORLD
During that week in Cape Town we dedicated
three great days to diving the inshore reefs and kelp
forests and managed to shoot every catshark species that we
had hoped to encounter.

The line up included Dark Shysharks,
Puffadder Shysharks, Pajama Catsharks, Leopard Catsharks and
even some extremely skittish spotted gully sharks that we
found hiding in caves deep in the reef.

For a change of scenery we also dove on some
deeper, more colourful reefs. On those dives we were lucky
enough to see some of the more illusive catshark species
from the area.

GREAT WHITE SHARKS
Cape Town may be the Catshark Capital of the
World but sevengills, catsharks and spotted gullies are
just some of the reasons to dive there. We also spent a
couple of days at Seal Island; a large rocky plateau that is
home to more than 70,000 Cape Fur Seals. And where there are
that many seals, there are inevitably lots and lots of great white
sharks!
We would arrive at day break in order to
witness spectacular natural predations as the white sharks
ambushed the seals on their way out to sea. Our experienced
guides would point out stragglers that were easy targets for
the white sharks and sure enough, one seal after another
would quietly disappear or sometimes be hit from below in an epic
spectacle or raw power as the white sharks launched
themselves completely out of the water.
On our best day I think we saw 17 natural
predations and a couple of hits on our decoy but other than
some splashes and a few fin shots I never managed to catch
one on camera. I always thought it looked tough but now I
have a new respect for the amazing breaching shots that some
shooters have captured on film over the years! I'm looking
forward to taking another crack at it in 2014 :)
Once the sun rises higher in the sky, the
seals can see the white sharks below them so the natural predations
tend to decrease. At this point we would drop the cage and
start chumming the sharks up to the boat. As a veteran great
white shooter in the gin clear waters around Mexico's
Guadalupe Island, I did not expect the photo ops to be
particularly good in the green soupy waters of Seal Island
but the great white sharks are extremely large in South
Africa and they come very close to the cage so the pictures
came out quite well and the green water added a unique eerie
feel that you can't get at Guadalupe. Seal Island is a
magical place that shouldn't be missed!

THE CAPE OF STORMS
We had hoped to spend a day far offshore free
diving with makos and blue sharks but there was a big
weather system off the Cape that thwarted that plan.
Although it would have been great to add those two species
to our shark count, everyone was happy to head back to the
reef instead and enjoy more time with the catsharks and sevengills.

CAPE FUR SEALS AND AFRICAN PENGUINS
We also snuck in one Cape Fur Seal dive at a
much smaller inshore seal colony where we were safer from
patrolling great whites. The fur seals were extremely
playful, darting back and forth as seals often do around
divers.
In our free time we wandered down to nearby
Boulders Beach which is home to hundreds of African
Penguins. These adorable flightless birds were once
teetering on the brink of extinction but due to commendable
local conservation efforts, they are rapidly recovering and
today they freely waddle along the beach to the delight of
visiting tourists.
 
The seals and the penguins added even more
memories to an already extraordinary trip but of course the
sharks dominated the expedition. Our final count on the
South African Shark Safari was 10 species of sharks in 7
days of diving. That's definitely a record for me. South
Africa is simply unbeatable!

JOIN ME IN AFRICA IN 2014
To give us more time on the Eastern Cape,
next year I am planning two back to back but completely
different trips. Join me and a small group of likeminded shark
divers on either or both of these world class expeditions.
You won't be disappointed!
The
WESTERN CAPE SHARK SAFARI will
be based in Simon's Town and will concentrate on the Great Whites, catsharks, Sevengills and
hopefully offshore blues and makos if the weather
cooperates.

The EASTERN CAPE
SHARK SAFARI AND SARDINE RUN (PAGE COMING SOON)
will start with the tigers,
oceanic blacktips, raggedtooth and Zambezi sharks of Aliwal
Shoal and then continue on to South Africa's world famous
Sardine Run.
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