Shark diaries: June 2007

Dear Ultimate Animal friend,

June was a very interesting month to say the least. We were almost fully booked, which was very good news, but the bad news was that the weather played absolute havoc with us. We had cold fronts coming in back to back, which meant that we could not get to sea for at least a dozen or so trips. The weather reminded me of the typical Cape Storms I can recall in the past, and just shows how the last few years of incredibly mild winters can deceive you into thinking this year is "very bad", when in fact its completely normal.

The very down side to this was trying to make up for lost time. It resulted in a lot of very disappointed guests. Many of our guests come to Cape Town just for the Great White Sharks, and for us not to be able to fulfill their dream, was very sad.

The weather also affected the shark behaviour. June was a very quiet month for predations. Normally, year after year June has been one of our very best months, and even though we saw sharks on every trip, it was not the same this year. On average we saw 7-8 sharks a day around the boat, which is still very good numbers, but they did not "hang around", like the used to. On the calm days we managed to get some very nice diving in. It is nice to see more and more ladies are entering the shark cage, and we are getting more and more ladies coming alone on the trips, which is another interesting observation. Some of the guests even braved our cold water shower on board the boat.

Then we saw the first Humpback whales and the first Southern Right Whales of the season. I absolutely love whales! I love the fact that they stop the traffic everywhere, when the come close inshore. Cars just stop in the there tracks and oogle at the sea. The locals hate the traffic jams, but I still get starry eyed every time I see a whale. There were also a lot of dolphins in the bay this month.

Rob has also had one of the busiest seasons so far. In the past, we have had a lot more shark enthusiasts, coming for 10 day trips and a lot of block bookings. Generally these groups are very relaxed and easy going. But, so far, it has been a new group of guests almost every day. This means your communication skills with your clients need to be really good, and it is very tiring for Rob come the end of each day. We also have a fairly new crew on the boat. We are very blessed that they are extremely well versed seaman, but you also need to keep an eye on how they interact with guests. It is amazing to see how these once shy chaps have turned into confident spokesmen.

There will be a new addition to the "shark" family soon. We are expecting a little boy in early August. I think Rob is thrilled that he is going to have help with "pulling up the anchor!" Our daughter Jordan, who is two and a bit is already crazy about boats and sharks and fish. She just loves watching Robs video footage of the "sharkies". I will keep you posted on our new little "great white Lawrence".

Until next month…….

Rob and Karen Lawrence
African Shark Eco-Charters