Getting ready for shark season!

So, we took the boat out onto the hard for an expection . The propeller needed replacing. Great, that was not good news. Then we noticed a crack in the engine mounting. Yippee, more bad news. And to top it off we had to replace the gear box.
Well, it all has to get done. That's just life when you run a boat commercially, but it doesn't sit easy on the wallet!

Today has gone to upgrade his skipper's ticket. It has been a long time since he has been asked to write a test, and he has been practising his knot techniques, many which had been forgotten. Its glad to see an old dog can still learn new tricks...ha ha...he will kill me for calling him and old dog. Thank heavens I can run fast!!

African Shark's week end news

Just busy sorting our new pics for the newsletter.
I haven't written a newsletter for ages. Not sure why, maybe its because I receive so many newsletters that I simply hit the delete button, and so I cant really see the point of sending out one myself only to have someone like me delete, delete, delete.

Our transfer side of the business seems to be taking off. Its still really early days. Wellington has been doing quiet a few Eastern Cape trips over the Christmas period. This "taxi" side has certainly been an eye opener for me. Not only have we ferried passengers we have also carried 2 couches and a 2 coffins so far for funeral trips. These trips are called "special" trips. Its quiet involved with having to sort out death certificates etc to have the correct papers to transport a coffin.

Got a phone call yesterday saying Wellington had a fender bender. Great stuff! Just waiting now to see the extent of the damage.

All quiet on the home front regarding the shark attack last week. Perhaps the devastation in Haiti has kept the media from focusing more on this incident.

We went to the beach yesterday with the kids. Its amazing how much fun kids can have just running in and out of the surf. Adam received a red swimming cap for Christmas and so he has to take it to the beach with him. He looks so darn funny in his little spider man costume and a swimming cap.

We are thinking of perhaps moving. Now that we have another staff member working from my office at home space is of a premium.
We had a look at some homes in Noordhoek yesterday. They were totally overpriced and really not great at all. We would still have to spend a fortune converting them to our needs.

Going to add some holiday pics to facebook now!

Australia goes Gung Ho on Great White Sharks

I don't like to openly criticise other countries. We deal with so many international guests that we prefer to just keep our opinion  to ourselves, unlike a lot of sharky related blog sites.

But man oh man, I just cannot understand the Australia's media and some of those who share the following articles mentality. We are in 2010, yet they live in the dark ages when in comes to Great White Sharks. come, on everyone, bring your pitch forks and torches and lets kill some sharks.

ROGUE sharks that attack beachgoers this summer will be hunted down, shot in the head and sawed apart until their spines are severed. OKAY, JUST HOW ARE THEY GOING TO FIND THESE " ROGUE" SHARKS. Do these great whites carry placards on their dorsal fin saying Hi, I have just killed someone swimming in my territory.
Just read the rest of the rubbish below.
The Sunday Times can today reveal the graphic methods put in place by the WA Government's Shark Hazard Committee for dealing with man-eaters.
In a candid interview, WA Department of Fisheries strategic compliance manager and shark committee member Tina Thorne said a rogue shark that attacked a swimmer would be slaughtered if it continued to pose a significant threat to beachgoers and if it could be positively identified as the offending shark.
But the kill order would only be given in "extreme circumstances" as a last resort where there was an immediate danger to the public.
Ms Thorne said fisheries officers would first use a baited drumline and put "attractant" in the water to try to hook the shark. And if you hook the WRONG shark, what then? or are you just gonna kill it, and then say oops.

Then the creature would be hauled aboard a boat where officers would "have to use a large firearm to dispatch the animal". sounds a bit like the KKK
"That is not an easy task, as sharks have very small brains," she said.
Once shot through the head, fisheries personnel would take a final step to ensure the creature was dead by "severing the spinal cord and bleeding it out".
"Even if you hook it, you can't just fly over in a chopper and shoot it because of refraction (of the bullets) in the water," Ms Thorne said.
While the shoot-to-kill methods are operational procedures put in place by the Shark Hazard Committee, Ms Thorne stressed great whites - the species responsible for most fatal attacks - were protected and a special exemption from the law was required by Fisheries Minister Norman Moore to kill one. Dont you just love it. She says she STRESSES that GWS are protected
"It's not something we would take lightly," Ms Thorne said, after a spate of shark sightings and beach closures across Perth this week.
Trying to catch a large shark was extremely dangerous, she said, and in most cases the creatures disappeared into the depths after an attack. WELL, WHERE ELSE MUST IT GO, IT IS THE OCEAN AFTER ALL.
Ms Thorne said in three of the past four fatal attacks in WA the shark responsible was never spotted.
Only after the fatal attack in 2008 on 51-year-old Port Kennedy man Brian Guest did the shark linger.
In that case, there was no immediate danger to other beachgoers, so authorities tried to tag the animal.
The statements about killing sharks angered the family of Mr Guest.
A friend of the family told The Sunday Times Mr Guest's widow Charmaine and son Daniel stuck by their comments that sharks belonged in the marine environment and should not be harmed.
Ms Thorne agreed, saying "they live in the ocean and we don't".
Six people have been killed by sharks in WA in the past 20 years.

Should sharks that kill be shot? Leave a comment below.

Shark spotters enjoyed their trip with us

Up close and personal with sharks

By Thandanani Mhlanga

The sea is quiet and still and it is almost hard to believe that great whites inhabit these calm waters.

On an unusually hot winter's day in the peninsula, and even more so in Simon's Town, a group of 10 shark spotters will get their first up-close encounter with the predator they've observed for so long.

Their excitement is palpable as the cage descends into the water.

At first, there are no sharks, but within minutes the boat to which the cage is attached is encircled by at least half a dozen.

After about 40 minutes, shark spotters Monwabisi Si-kweyiya and Patrick "Rasta" Davids are lifted out of the shark-diving cage.

"It was that close! Did you see it?" shouted Sikweyiya.

Davids responded: "Do you believe me now? There's nothing to be afraid of?"

The group was invited by African Shark Eco-Charters to get a close-up view of the sharks they keep a lookout for.

"There are more dangerous two-legged sharks on land," said Davids, a veteran of the shark spotting trade.

Davids started out as a car guard at a Muizenerg beach until a 16-year-old teenager lost a leg to a great white. His livelihood was subsequently threatened as the beach saw fewer visitors.

This led him to train as a shark spotter.

"The local trek fishermen taught me how to look for weather conditions, wind patters, visibility in the water. I was the first shark spotter in Muizenberg."

That was seven years ago, and shark spotting has since grown to encompass this group of youngsters from all walks of life who were given the opportunity yesterday to encounter the great whites.

Rob Lawrence, owner and host of African Shark Eco-Charters, sponsored the group.

"These guys do such a good job but only get to see the sharks from the mountains," said Lawrence.

Alison Kock, a shark re-searcher with the Save our Seas Foundation, said they were grateful to Lawrence for sponsoring the trip as the experience had lifted the shark spotters' spirits.

"Getting to see sharks in their natural environment, up closer than they ever have before, can teach them more in a few hours than years of studying sharks from books or films," said Kock.

Also in the shark spotter group are four women.

Ethel Thsandu said that, as a shark spotter, she had learned how to connect with nature.

"You get to learn about nature, how to become connected to nature," she said.

The other women said the best part of their job was meeting tourists from all over the world.

Breaching Great White Shark of False Bay

Pic taken by Rob Lawrence

A day in the Life of a shark crew member

 

Karen thought it would be a great idea to have some of the crew blog about their shark trips. I asked Robert Jennings, our latest crew member to give it a bash. He gave me an apprehensive look that said " What, who me? Oh No!!"

So without further adieu, here is Roberts first blog.

Yesterday we left the harbour in a blanket of fog, cold and dark. With the aid of the GPS we were able to find our way to Seal Island. Navigating through the fog reminded me of the movie “Dead Calm”.

The sea was calm and oily with just the outboards for company. The faster we went the wetter my waterproofs became.
The sun finally came out just after ten burning off the last of the fog around the island.

We had anchored in section 5 of Seal Island, about 50m from the shore. With the sun out and the guests relaxing on the fly bridge we began to lure the Great Whites up from the deep. Within minutes we had a player around the boat, which stayed with us for about an hour and a half. The guests were well pleased taking photos and enjoying their cigars.

At around 12ish, we hauled the cage in, anchored up and we were back on our way to port. Fifty meters from the port we slowed down to view the first three Southern Right whales, of the season. That brought out more cheers from our guests and the final cigars of the day.

The afternoon trip brought us to tears with laughter, as we had a group of IPL supporters who knew nothing about diving or sharks. Most of the time was spent dressing them up in wetsuits, gloves, boots, hoods, masks and weight belts. When finally we got one of the guests into the cage, he said he can not stay in the water because it is too salty!

The day ended well with them seeing two sharks and eating all the sandwiches and snacks. What they could not finish they took with them. That was the first, till next time.

Watch out for those chairs......

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.

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?

The last few trips

As I mentioned a few posts ago, we arrived back home to find out that the shark activity had not been so great in our absence, with about only a 60% sightings rate.

This is very strange as April marks the start of high season and we normally have a daily shark sightings (over 90%).

We do not go to sea on Good Friday. It is an old standing sea tradition and considered extremely bad luck. Anyone who knows anything about the sea, knows that. However, there will always be someone who is willing to forgo the tradition for commercial reasons. So, in saying this, we where at home celebrating "Good Friday", when one of the False Bay operators phoned us to say that as he arrived at Seal Island he "got" great white sharks.

As we had a trip going on Saturday,and pretty much a full boat, I was thrilled to hear this news. However,on Saturday, sadly to say no sharks where seen by us. I could not believe it.

We had another trip going on Monday, but we had to cancel it due to strong South Easterly winds. Rob is out at "Seal Island" at the moment. The wind has changed direction to a light northerly, and that is always good news. I will let you know how today's trip went.

I am now about to leave to get some parts for the engine. We need some new spark plugs, 12 of them, and they cost a small fortune each. It also means I need to now drive for about 50 minutes one way, just to fetch the parts, and if you know Capetonians, anything longer than a 20 minute drive is just too far... .those jokes that people talk about us, saying we rather just chill dude, and look at " The Mountain", are partly true..ha ha ha.

I am still wanting to tell you all about our Botswana trip, but at the rate I am going with all our work here, it also still being school holidays, with mad kids running amok at home, I am not sure when I will get to it.

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.

Back to the grindstone

Rob and I are back from a good long trip in Botswana. We had an AMAZING trip. I could have spent at least another 2 weeks there. Funny how when you get back, it kinda feels like you have never left!

Its back to the grindstone for us. I have 4 eye syndrome, from spending hours and hours and hours on the computer going through almost 500 emails. Yes, our trusty right hand lady, Crystal did do our bookings, but I still have to go through each one!!

Rob has been running around fetching clothing stock, sorting out the boat, getting film shoot permits for the upcoming shoots and feeling like he needs a beer and another holiday.

In our absence, our colleagues have been helping us out with our shark trips. April is the start of high season, but the shark activity has not been great. In fact there has been only a 60% sightings rate. Yesterdays trip was a no show. I have just found out that they saw sharks today, and will get a better update later on.

I will let you know all about our trip in the next few posts, as we had quiet an adventure with lots of pics to show you. We did some great bird spotting as well.

Intermediate Shark Season????

Golly, it has been over a month since my last post, and I am sure our keen readers must have thought we had dropped off the face of the earth. Alas, no such luck, we haven't been invited to be the next Mark Shuttleworth!

Well,they normally say that no news is good news. Sadly to say, that is not the case here. February is normally the start of our intermediate season. However the sharks have not arrived in the numbers that we have expected and we have had very low sightings indeed. This is a first in 15 years that we are still experiencing "low season". So far in March, the same trend has continued.

Our guests are always told of the latest sightings, or non sightings and most of them have been very keen to take the chance of going out to Seal Island.

The last few days have seen a remarkable shift in the weather and its gone from Sunny South Africa to jolly cold with a severe bite in the air. This cold front has affected the sea conditions and we have had a big swell push. This is a good sign for us, as it usually means the sharks will become more active and we hope to see a increase in sightings now.

Our next Great White Shark trip will be on Monday, and so I will let you know if anything has changed.

Volunteer post available

Dear Ultimate Animal lovers,

Each year Rob and I host one to join us as a crew member for our shark season.
Normally this is a marine biology student who needs practical training experience, or someone who is passionate about sharks and the ocean, and wants to volunteer their time.
Boating experience is essential, and they must be a confident and comfortable interacting with tourists on a daily basis.
They must also be available for about 5 months and financially self sufficient.
Should you wish to apply, please feel free to send us your CV.
We look forward to hearing from you!

Rob and Karen Lawrence
www.ultimate-animals.com

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

Media Hype around shark incident

I have a google alert for tags on Great White Sharks and Shark cage diving. In the last two weeks, I have had about 50 alerts to a year old shark incident off Guadalupe Island, so I thought I would have my say as well.
Having seen the video footage, it is clear to me that there are two reasons why this incident occured.
Problem no 1. The Cage.-The viewing ports on that cage was too big for a normal commercial operation, where you have the average diver involved. Where you have a film crew involved and there is specialised filming equipment, yes, the ports are larger than normal, but those ports where far to large and thus the saftey of the diver was compromised.

Problem no 2. The bait handler. The bait handler has one of the most important jobs on the boat. His job is to use the bait to attract the shark to the cage, yet make sure the diver in the cage is safe.The bait should never be allowed to dangle in front of the cage unattended. The handler dragged the bait directly towards the cage, and the shark went straight for it and ended up with his whole body in the cage. ( The shark did not breach as reported. A breach is when a shark propels itself from the water).

Having dived in Guadalupe myself, there are some differences between our operations in False Bay, South Africa and theirs. One is the visibility. Guadalupe has excellent viz and so you should be able to see the shark from far off and thus handle your bait accordingly. We have sometimes only a few metres of vis and so our bait handlers must be quick on the mark, our aim is not feed them our baits. This takes skill and is not as easy as it looks,when it is done properly.

Saying all this,my post is not to have a dig at another operator. Merely to look at an incident and comment on it.

I had a great time in Guadalupe and was very happy with our operator. Rob

What urkes me is the way the media has portrayed this. Again as a "jaws hype". This sensationalism irritates me, using words like "man eater", "great white rips cage apart", and other such nonsense. Sensationalism does nothing to portray sharks in a positive light! Karen

Holiday Season swimming precautions

16 men on a dead mans ship...Ho ho ho and a bottle of rum

With the holiday season here,everyone and their granny is heading off to the beach!

With more bathers,surfers and water sport users in the water,water accidents dramatically rise. Most of these are alcohol related.

Our shark spotters that sit on the mountain are constantly on the alert patrolling the surf zone for great white shark.

However, people must be aware that although the shark spotting programmes are considered very effective, they can never be 100% effective, and people must still use the sea at their own risk.

Considering the number of people who use the ocean on a daily basis, the actual number of attacks by Great White Sharks is extremely low. People are not the natural prey of the Great White Sharks. Cape Town has experienced 6 attacks in the last 5 yrs, and everyone entering the ocean must do so at their own discretion, knowing that they are entering a wild environment in which sharks naturally live.

We are entering their territory; they are not coming into ours.

Shark safety tips

If people exercise caution and are aware of their environment, the risk of attack can be lowered further. Here are some tips in reducing the risk of attack:

* Do not swim, surf or surf ski when birds, dolphins or seals are feeding nearby.
* Do not swim in deep water beyond the breakers.
* Do not swim if you are bleeding.
* Do not swim near river mouths.
* Do not swim, surf, surf ski at night.
* Do not swim near river mouths. Do not swim, surf or surf ski near where trek-netting,fishing or spear fishing is taking place.
* Do not dive for rock lobster using live bait.
* If a shark has recently been sighted in an area where no mountain watches are present, consider using another beach for the day.
* Obey beach officials if told to leave the water.
* Consider kayaking or surf skiing when far out to sea, in a group.
* Pay attention to shark signage on beaches.

I hope that you find this information helpful and you act responsibly in the water.

Dead Humpback whale washed up on Muizenberg beach

 
 

I got a call this morning saying there was a dead whale on the beach. Jordan (3) wanted to go with me to see, and asked if the whale was going to heaven. Thankfully she didn't go into the logistics of how it was going to get to heaven.

Anyway, it was a baby humpback whale. Very dead. Stinking and it had been a feast for the sharks. Have a look at the shark bite marks on the tail. ROB

Mythbusters with African Shark Eco-Charters

Many people have asked us what myths the mythbusters came to bust. Well I have found a site that says it better than I would so I am just going to copy and paste it in for you ( taken from http://kwc.org/mythbusters/2007/11/episode_90_supersized_myths.html )

However the photo's are all ours.

Supersized Shark

See also: Jaws Special

Jamie and Adam shipped their gear to False Bay, South Africa (near Cape Town), where they hired African Shark Eco Charters to take them out into waters infested with great white sharks. Seal Island, located just 5.7 km off the coast, is home to innumerable seals. The huge seal population also attracts the great whites. On an initial site-seeing trip, Adam and Jamie got to see first-hand how many: Jamie couldn't even finish his explanation before a seal decoy they dropped in the water was hit by a great white breaching out of the water. They lured the sharks closer using tuna heads and Jamie went for a closer look inside the shark cage. He got quite a show as a shark got a full nose into the cage and knocked things around. Meanwhile, Adam didn't take enough ginger pills and spent much of the trip seasick.

Adam: "South Africa has been pretty crazy to us so far. We did see an air attack, Jamie almost got eaten, I threw up -- Now we are able to start our tests."
Supersized Shark Myth 1: Sharks attracted to noises

Myth: Sharks are attracted to low-frequency noises (40hz) that sound like an animal thrashing around

The theory is that the great white sharks detect the low frequency noises using lateral lines that run along the length of their body. Jamie supposed that there was some credence to this theory, given that the operators of their shark cruise rap on the side of the boat to attract the great whites.

Jamie once again went in the water along with an underwater speaker system that first blasted the MythBusters theme song to the surrounding sea life.

Jamie (to Adam): "If you're gonna be sick, can you be sick on the other side of the boat, over"

With Jamie in the water, they tried three tests: * 40hz hum for 10 minutes: no sign of sharks * 0-40hz sweep: presuming that 40hz was too precise, they swept the sound from 0-40hz. Still no sign of sharks. * High frequency: they went in the other direction, blasting a high pitched noise instead. A single shark appeared

Not knowing if Jamie was a factor in the sharks (not) appearing, they pulled Jamie out of the water and repeated the same series of tests. This time, no sharks appeared at all.

busted
Supersized Shark Myth 2: Sharks are afraid of dolphins

Myth: Sharks are afraid of dolphins

Marine biologists speculated that dolphins are intelligent enough to be capable of altruistic acts, such as rescuing animals of other species from shark attacks. They MythBusters researchers dug up two incidents from 2004 that seemed to confirm this myth. In New Zealand, lifeguards training on a beach reported a great white appearing on the beach and then swimming away when a dolphin swam up. Similarly, in Australia, a fisherman capsized and was stranded for two days. Great whites approached but were repelled by a dolphin.

Jamie and Adam constructed a foam, animatronic dolphin after studying the swimming motion of Merlin the dolphin at Discovery Kingdom. Adam cut out a dolphin model from a block of upholstery foam. He used a printout of a 3D dolphin model they found online as a guide. Meanwhile, Jamie worked on generating the dolphin tail motion that they figured was crucial to fooling the sharks. He connected an electric drill to an off-centered crank to create the undulations. Bike chain was used as a mechanical spine. When the drill was turned on, the entire rig flapped up and down like a dolphin.

Down in South Africa, they conducted a series of tests to see if the animatronic dolphin was a shark deterrent: * Seal decoy: the seal decoy was hit by a shark within five seconds of being dropped in the water * Seal decoy + animatronic dolphin: the dolphin and seal decoys cruised along the water close together. A great white fin broke the surface between the fake dolphin and seal, but no bite. * Tuna heads + animatronic dolphin: They upped the ante by throwing a tuna head into the water. As a shark approached the tuna head, they pulled the dolphin over -- the shark swam away. They repeated the test again with the same result. * Tuna heads: With the fake dolphin out of the water, the great white went to town on the tuna heads.

The sharks may not have been 'afraid' of the dolphins, but they did seem to be deterred.

plausible

I know they say plausible, but seeing it, it seemed more than plausable to us.It was amazing how the sharks swam AWAY from the dolphin.

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.

False Bay Fishermen

 
 

These are little local fishing boats from either Fish hoek or Kalk Bay. Most of the local fishermen eek out a living catching good eating fish such as Snoek, Cape Salmon, Yellow tail and Red Roman. Many of them catch the fish using hand lines.

There is something so magical and beautiful about fishing boats. I am not sure what it is. The kids love it when we take them to the harbour,to buy some fish for supper. There are always fat seals lolling about in the water, waiting for a scraps. We also normally buy some hot chips and feed some to the sea gulls.We love the bustle of activity, and love watching the fisherwoman clean the fish. The speed and skill with which they handle those knives makes me never want to cross with them in a dark alley.

Beautiful Cape Point

 

Rob took this picture on our last trip we did. I just had to share it with you as I find it so captivating.
 

Here is a close up of the light house at Cape Point. This was a lovely calm day, unlike the next picture.

I took this picture a while ago, but the conditions this week where exactly the same. The weather has played havoc here in the Cape.100's of homes have been washed away at at a little town in the Breede River (2.5 hrs away)

We had to cancel Friday's trip, but tomorrow we are going out again into the deep. Keep you posted on how that goes

Great White Found dead at Macassar beach False Bay

It always saddens us to hear about great whites that are found dead. This shark was found on Oct 25 2008 at Macassar Beach in False Bay (South Africa).It was a nice healthy looking big shark of 4.6m. There was no idication of how it died.

Trying to get boat maintenance done.

Well after a few weeks away and a long shark season we have got down to boat repairs, painting the deck,checking the wiring and other general repairs. However,it looks like Wellington and myself will have a few days off as a very big Southerly storm is blowing into Cape Town.
So I think I will take this opportunity over the next few days to do some editing of footage I shot during the season.(Note to self:I actually need to get a new computer especially for my footage).

We did one very successful Pelagic trip last week where we had 15 Blue sharks and 1 Mako around the boat. The water viz was not that great, but it was nice to be back in the water and to see sharks again. ROB

Mooove Over

On our way back from the mouth we had to wait for a herd of cows to moooove out the way. The kids just loved the little black calf.

Its hard travelling with little kids, but I think we have little outdoor enthusiasts. Adam thought it was such fun as our vehicle negotiated the sandy roads. He sat in his little car seat being bumped around as if he was on a dodgem car. The harder the bump the more he laughed. Jordan just loved everything she saw, especially the kids. There where an incredible amount of schools everywhere, all in the middle of no where, which is mind boggling. One would think that they would all be at the nearest town or village, not scattered around.

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.

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

The Big Storm that hit Cape Town

The storm

( Hi guys. Here is last weeks post. We had some trouble with the blog site.)

We had to cancel our trips because of the hectic storm that came during the week-end. It co-incided with a spring tide, and so the sea was spectacular. In the pics, I want you to look at the swell in the background. The first pic is of Muizenberg. Normally it is supposed to be flat. Here you can see the waves rolling for as far back as the eye can see. In the second pic, you can just see how dangerous that sea is.
I wasnt able to get some pics of Kalk Bay, with the waves breaking over the harbour, but the sea was as big as I have ever seen before. We are going to try get some pics for you a bit later at high tide. We plan to go to sea on Wednesday or Thursday, after the sea has calmed down and it will be interesting to see what affect the storm has had on the sharks, the predations and the general shark activity around the Island.

Will Keep you posted.
Cheers
Rob http://www.ultimate-animal.com