Shark diaries: March 2007

Dear Ultimate Animal friend,

March started off poorly. We were fully booked for most of March, but had to cancel almost 10 trips due to the SE wind, making the sea conditions to choppy, or due to the red tide. The red tide has been so bad, that we even had to cancel some “Blue Water” trips; such was the extent of the algae bloom. Rob said he encountered once patch that was as thick as soup, and on 1 trip had to check the engines every 10 minutes for fear of over heating.

For the Pelagic trips, they had to go very far out for the sharks, + 32 sea miles. The trips where very good, and the birding sights where exceptional.

The shark activity has risen, and it was so exciting to have more sharks back at the Island. It seems like they have come early this year. Again the sightings have fluctuated, but so far, there has not been one trip that has not encountered great whites. The most so far being 7, yes 7 sharks for March. That was an amazing trip, as the bay was nice and clear and clean, and the sea was as flat as glass.

On one trip, when the red tide had abated, a school of common dolphins +- 50 came right up to the boat and stayed for a good while. Dolphins are always such a nice treat, and there is something so special about them.

Several Brydes whales where also spotted on a few trips.

There is still some red tide in the bay, but with this strong SE wind, we hope that it will have blown it away for the trips on the week end.

April and May are going to be very exciting months for us as we have “two” very big name film companies working with us. They are here obviously for the Great whites of False Bay. I can’t let the cat out of the bag yet, but when I am able I will fill in the blanks.

We are also going to be working with our local conservation guys, taking the shark spotters out to sea, to educate them in what we do. The shark spotters play a vital role in looking out for our surfers and swimmers and its important that they also get the opportunity to get up close and personal with the great whites. I will be shortly writing an article about them, so watch this space for details…..

Our sightings for March 2007:

• Brydes Whales
• Dolphins
• Great White Sharks
• Pelagic birds

That is all for this month

Rob and Karen Lawrence
African Shark Eco-Charters