Dead Dolphin

Here is a pic of the Dolphin that we saw the other day in False Bay.

Great pic and planning a holiday.

This is a great pic of an attempted predation. This was taken in July by a friend, Ian Kloppers. It sums up the perfect cat and mouse chase between the shark and the seal. I never get tired of seeing tpics like this.

The last week or so has been great for me, as for the last 6 months we both have worked flat out, and I really have been needing a break. So with no trips, I have had time to catch up with friends and Rob has started to do the off season stuff, like repainting the boat.

As the weather is still very much winter here, except for the odd day which we get blessed with sunshine and no wind, I have said to Rob that I want to go away some where that it is warm. My criteria is warmth, no rain and I want a beach thrown it the mix, (with warm water!) and the usual 4x4 type of holiday that we both love. So with much delving onto the internet, Rob has come up with Kozi Bay, (on the SA/Mozambican border). This is much to my delight, as I have been there before and its one of the most beautiful, pristine places on the earth.
Just one small problem, and that is travelling there from Cape Town, in our SUV with a 13 month baby and a very bouncy three year old. We are just in time for turtle season and If i get to witness these little turtle hatchings racing the odds to get as fast as possible to the ocean, it will be such a thrill for me.
I am going to be looking over Robs itinery just now, and then I can fill you all in on the details. I am getting excited already!

Low season for the Great White Sharks

The sharks have begun to move from Seal Island, and our sightings are down to about 50%. We have had bad weather on and off for the whole of September and it does affect the shark activity. On Friday we did not go to sea, and the trips on Saturday where slow. We had 2 kills in the early morning, but no sharks around our boat. Our colleuges had 3 sharks that day, and so this is the way it goes. Our Saturday afternoon trip was a complete no-show and we will not be doing any more afternoon trips.
We have had some really good whale and dolfin sightings. Yesterday we saw about 50 Southern Right whales, so you could almost say we did a whale watching trip yesterday.

Today has suprised us. I have just phoned Rob to find out how the sharks have been and they are having an excellent day. We have had a shark called "Round Fin", stick around the boat from 9 am and is still there and everyone on the boat has managed to cage dive. Round Fin, is called that for his particularly round dorsal fin. He is a small shark, around 2.5m and we have been seeing him on and off for the past month.
The trip has also seen about 100 dolphins or more, and lots of whales, and even had one whale filter feeding in the harbour this morning.

So it is very much a luck of the draw at the moment.

This month will be the last real shark month for us. We are coming to the end of our season, which brings me to a whole new blog about what we do in off season.

Our first Post

Howdy

Our first post, well where do we start?
Firstly we, Rob and myself, Karen own and Run ASEC ( African Shark Eco-Charters). Rob does all the operational side, and I am the one that greases the "cogs", so to speak.
We love sharks and I think the best way for me to explain is to say, check out our website. www.ultimate-animals.com

We are very different from other companies, as our focus is not on the adrenaline-thrill of shark cage diving. It is on showing our guests sharks in their natural environment in the wild and treating these animals with respect. ( We say- Sharks first and not tourists!!).We do not chum for great whites, and we are very big on conservation.

I guess the aim of this blog, is not a marketing ploy, but just to share our passion with you!

Well, that wasnt to bad for my first post!!

Cheers
Karen

What to do when trips are cancelled

Well we have had a rough week with the sharks. The lousy weather last week end caused this weeks trips to be really disappointing. Only yesterday did we have a good trip, with five sharks around the boat, two nice predations in the morning and we even managed to do some diving. We also saw Southern right whales and Common Dolphins and so it was a great well rounded trip.

Another cold front came in last night, and so today and tomorrow is another no sea day. During the season Rob and I spend very little time together and so with him being home, I dragged him to the shops. We needed a new vaccum cleaner, as our old stinky vaccum was blowing out more dirt and dust than it was cleaning.
We also have pets, and so even though they are only allowed in our scullery and entrance hall,pet hairs manage to get everywhere, and so I wanted a vaccum that actually cleaned and then blew clean filtered air out, instead of having me sneezing after each use.

So off to Makro we go, and return brandishing Karen's new toy with a picture of a dog and "HEPA filter" written boldly on the box. We start in the lounge, which only has wooden floors and one large rug. How much dirt can one rug hold I think? Well, after 5 minutes, with this brush that resembles a mini combine harvester combing away, my eyes nearly popped out of my head and my mild obsessive-compulsive trait started blinking red lights rapidly in my brain.
I think, if that what a rug holds, I am petriefied to think what our bedrooms look like. So off to the rooms I go with a wild look in my eyes and Rob retreats to the newly spring cleaned lounge with a beer in his hand and a bemused look on his face.
Well, after Rob cleaning the filters and see-through "no bag" container, even he was sold on the vaccum.

So, now I am chilling with a glass of red wine, our toddler and the baby are merrily eating rice cakes on my clean rug and Rob is watching Rugby highlights.....not a bad end to a no sea day Sunday.