Watching the sun rise over False Bay

I have just come back from the beach. I arrived there at 05.45. The light had begun to filter through and already the old folks were swimming ( that never fails to amaze me). Within 10 minutes other walkers and joggers arrived.
After my walk I decided not to head  to the gym but do another lap of the catwalk. As I was about to leave I saw the sun peaking over the mountains.  I sat down on the beach watch the sun rise over the calm sea of False Bay. It was breath taking. 

Its good to be alive!

Gonna check out my beauties with the Shark spotters

Woke up this early this morning and was at the beach before 6.I felt so good no, blessed, no super blessed to alive, and living in the "deep south" of Cape town. I walked for about 20 min greeting all the old ducks that swim every morning and then headed to the gym to cycle those extra snacks away. 

Went home feeling on top of the world, singing and praising and I knew that I would have a great day.

 We are spending the morning with the shark spotters tomorrow, bring your sunglasses and water, and lets wait for the great white beauties,to wink at us....

Shark Cage diving with African Shark Eco-Charters

I have just learnt how to link words to websites, so bear with me as I play " link link"

Shark Cage diving info

Great White Shark diving

Watch great white shark hunt seal at False Bay Seal Island.

Simonstown False Bay, at dawn

Here is a nice pic Rob took of Simonstown False Bay.

Dolphins at Dawn

 

A lovely sight to behold.

Shark Spotters

I have blogged before about the shark spotters and what a good job they do, sitting on the mountainside with binoculars and a radio, and monitor shark activity around the surf zone.

Today we are making their dream a reality, by taking these guys on our boat to have a look at the sharks "up close and personal"

Alison, from Save our Seas, said they are very excited and cant wait for this afternoon. We are giving them each a beanie to keep their head warm as its darn cold, and are looking into jackets for them as well,(just trying to muster up some sponsorship).

Let you know how it goes.

Shark joke of the day

Q: What doe a shark like to watch on tv

A: Anything but Flipper!!!!

Pilot Whales stranded at Kommetjie beach

My shark trip this morning was touch and go as the weather wasn't looking so good. I told my guests I would contact them early in the morning if we would go to sea. So,when I woke, I headed off to Muizenberg. Even though the weather wasn't looking bad, the swell was very big, and I was not going to take the boat out.

On the way home, around 7.45ish, I got a call from a paramedic buddy of mine. Pilot whales had beached themselves off Longbeach, Kommetjie. I phoned my crew, and asked if they wanted to assist me in helping out. "Yes, of course", they said, and I raced to my boat to get wetsuits.

When we arrived there where dozens and dozens of whales on the beach. Being still early, there where only about 30 people around. We started to move them back into the water, and getting them to try swim out to sea.

You need to get them with their dorsal fin upright. If they are on there side, they lay on there lungs suffocating. By moving them closer into the sea, we were successful in getting many off the beach.

By now many people where there, all eager to help. There was the NSRI, Sea Rescue, the police, marine biologists,local surfers and everyone gave a helping hand. With more and more coming onto the beach, it also started to get out of hand. Some where pulling them by there tails and pulling them on there side.

The NSRI, and the police cordoned off sections to try do some crowd control. I saw some young girls crying, as seeing these whales die was emotional.

After about 2.5 hours in the freezing cold, I called it quits. I tried to help, but to be honest, most will return and die. Only a handful will make it. No one really knows why they beach? Some say its because of illness, or one is in distress and so being in a close community they all follow suit.

Karen arrived later and took some pics. The dogs being none the wiser, seemed to be having a great time.

A few hours later, I phoned to see what the latest update was. A flat bed truck was on its way to take some whales to False Bay, where they would be taken into the deep sea. A good few were dead, and more had returned to the beach.

We don't see Pilot whales in False Bay. We get them offshore, and have seen them on many of our Pelagic Blue and Mako shark trip. By the looks of it, I think they were short tailed Pilot whales, but don't quote me on that.

Please feel free to leave a comment.

Dead Dolphin

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

Killer whales in False Bay

I often forget how privileged we are. Rob gets to do what he loves,working with sharks and being on the ocean, and I love working from home doing all the bookings, correspondence and being with the kids.

On Sunday we had the fortunate rare experience, and may be the last one, of seeing Killer Whales/ Orca's.

Rob got a call from a friend saying that he has spotted Killer whales and a massive school of dolphins in the Bay. The kids and I were at a birthday party, and I was very embarrassed to inform our hostess that we had to immediately leave. We raced to the boat to meet Rob.

My heart jumped when we saw the first one. It was beautiful, really and truly beautiful! They swam in front, under and around the boat. Adam wanted to jump overboard, as he was so excited, and I had to take the kids onto the viewing deck.

There were 5 of them in the pod. 4 mediums ones ( I think all female) and one smaller male. They were actively after the dolphins. These animals can move it. They were swimming at a speed of 5 knots. They also eat seals, but didn't give them a second glance.

It was amazing to see them chase, herd and go in for the kill. They caught one dolphin,(They were Dusky dolphins),and then totally backed off. The dolphins went absolutely wild. They caused such massive splashes as they raced to get away, that all you could not even see them.

After that the Orca's changed course and swam away.

Rob took some nice pics, and my 4 yr old daughter wants to take a pic to "show and tell".

Sometimes we get caught up in the small stuff,paying bills,the increase in interest rates, wondering about the country and elections,how the global recession is going to affect us, and yes, it can seem overwhelming at times, but despite all of that, I am glad I took a step back and realised we are so privileged.

Shouldn't you?

Shark Cage diving...No experience necessary

I was going through our website the other day, doing some changes, when I noticed that I had some old information regarding cage diving on it, where it still said you need to be scuba qualified to scuba dive.

You do not need any dive experience or qualifications to use the scuba gear in our shark cages. We keep the dive tanks on board the boat, and we use long air hoses that go from the dive tanks to the diver in the shark cage. This is called a hookah system. It allows you to have a more enjoyable dive without the cumbersome dive gear.

It also means that the non diver can get the chance to dive without having to resort to snorkelling.

A day out on the boat

 

Yesterday was such a lovely day. We had no bookings so in the morning we headed down to Boulders beach. The kids made sandcastles and delighted in the penguins waddling around.

We decided to invite my dad and some friends for sundowners on the boat in the afternoon. Rob recently got himself a new Canon camera, and so I played photographer, taking pics of everyone on the boat and pics of the penguins, pics of the seagulls, etc etc. The kids love going on the boat, and both love the sea.
Adam is incredibly sturdy on the boat and I think he will make a good deckhand. He found the deck broom and was having a great time cleaning the deck. Jordan on the other hand found all the wetsuits. They were all nicely packed, S,M,L etc, but she decided they looked better on the floor as a mat for her to jump on from the bench in the "changing room". She also loved posing in the shark cage.

WE headed back to Boulders, but in the boat this time, as its a nice spot to swim, and just chill out with a few "coolies". The water was so cold, about 15', so I decided against taking the plunge. We watched the penguins start heading home after their days fishing, (see pic) and the kids delighted in feeding the seagulls crisps (see pic).

We really had a great time.

We wanted to go to sea today, but did not have enough guests, only 2, to take the boat out, but have another trip planned for tomorrow. The weather looks good and we expect a good day at sea!

The Great Whites of False Bay

The Great Whites of False Bay was written by Dirk Schmidt. It depicts the Great White Sharks which dominate the False Bay area and present a unique hunting behavior of breaching during predatory events.

The book contains spell binding images of the Great Whites breaching and hunting seals within the False Bay area, as well as delving briefly into the life cycle of the Cape Fur Seal, Seal Island’s history and False Bay, without diverging too much from the awesomeness of the White Shark hunting these waters.

The Great White shark is undoubtedly one of the most well-known and most awesome apex or macropredator of the seas. It is the largest predating fish on earth and has earned a much maligned reputation as an indiscriminate man-eater.

Despite the enormous popular and scientific interest in the Great White, it remains one of the least understood of the sea's creatures. Its combination of size, menace and mystery, make the Great White Shark a modern day 'monster' that many people find irresistible.

Dirk Schmidt captures some awesome images of Great White Sharks in False Bay and illustrates the shark’s explosive presence during predatory events. His images of Great Whites allow us to share a rare insight into Great White Shark behavior

Flying sharks of False Bay

False Bay is home to the great white shark. It is also unique as our white sharks "fly". Here is an wonderful picture, taken by Jose Alejandro Alvarez, a guest on our boat "Blue Pointer" in July. Watching great white sharks breach is truly AWESOME, and there is no where quite like it on earth than with us in False Bay. Why not join us on a shark trip, and witness this spectacular sight for yourself.

A bad day at the office....ha ha

Here is a typical picture of Rob on the boat, looking some what like a hill-billy. We get some awesome winter days in False Bay, when the sea is calm and flat and the skies blue and sunny.

Yesterday was an awesome sunny day and fickle mother nature was really playing games with all of us. The shark trip was enjoyable with 4 sharks around the boat, a kill in the morning and we did a bit of cage diving as well. When Rob came home, we had a braai (which I think no one can do quiet like South Africans) and the kids were running and playing in the garden.
Today is another no sea day for us, and I for one am wondering where spring is, or has it forgotten us? Its cold, wet and stormy and our two dogs have curled up in the entrance hall, and haven't moved an inch all day which is a jolly good indication of the state of Cape Town today.

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 a bummer

Today's trip was a completely chaotic. Firstly our driver could not find an address for a pick up at 5.45, and so all the guests having a transfer were late, then the when the boat finally left and was about a 1km from the harbour, the engines started playing up (due to what we discovered was dirt in the fuel lines) and so the boat had to turn around, and head back. Most people were very understanding and we managed to accommodate them on the tomorrow's trip, but some guests were very disappointed, which is totally understandable.

Hopefully the boat and the trip will go smoothly tomorrow.