Spoilt for choice!
August 14, 2011 by dyertrust
I think the sharks must have started reading our Marine Dynamics newsletters. In July we left off hoping that our sightings would improve and that we would see at least one more spell of activity at Dyer Island again before winter season draws to an end. After a very dry sharky phase at the Island in July, just as we hoped, a new set of fins appeared there this month! The nice thing is, the sharks seem to have divided themselves between the inshore reefs of Jouberts dam and the island leaving us seriously spoilt for choice on where to anchor!
Even though winter months are usually rated as our best time for shark viewing, my personal favourite time of year is the end of August/September. This is spring in South Africa, and we generally see big female sharks inshore. Even though our visibility is often compromised, the sheer size and attitude of these big girls makes up for it. Each shark seems to have an awareness of its own physical size and power and they often circle our vessel in such a deliberate and graceful manor. When juvenile sharks dare to arrive at our boat, it is so amusing to see their behaviour as they spend most of their time holding back and giving way to the bigger more dominant females. On the 8th of August, not one shark was less than 3.5m, with most of them measuring in at the 4m mark. Our team are starting to recognise the same fins returning to the shallows each year, and it seems these big females show site fidelity to the beach here in Gansbaai, meaning that they are homing back here to rest, socialise, passively feed- avoid harassing males- or all of the above!
Whopper!
One of the largest sharks ever sighted from Gansbaai’s cage diving vessels appeared on the end of July. She was sighted again at our vessel Slashfin on two more occasions in the first week of August. We suspect she was either seriously well fed, or due to her extremely rotund belly, she could even have been harbouring a small litter of pups in her belly (-optimistic- but there’s always a chance!). We know a female white shark generally needs to be over 4.5m to give birth. Some have measured in over 5m and are still only just mature according to records from the