“Airjaws”, False Bay’s Flying Great White Sharks

Where can you see the famous breaching Great Whites?

Great white sharks often attack their prey with such force and explosive energy that it propels them right out of the water. This is a spectacular event to witness a breaching Great White Shark, and will definitely leave you with such awe for these amazing predators.

What makes False Bay, Seal Island so special is that this unique hunting behaviour occurs more regularly here than at other Great White Shark locations around the world, and thus False Bay has become known as the home of  the “flying” great white sharks. and puts False Bay on the map for any shark lover.

The breaching behaviour is seen mainly when hunting seals. The shark comes from the deep sea, aims it sights at its prey and then like a torpedo, it propels itself out the water, at the seal. The seal literally has no idea what has hit it. Then, with a big splash it’s gone.

What happens if the shark doesn’t catch the seal when it breaches?

If the shark misses the seal, then the chase is on. And boy, what an exciting chase. It is a game of cat and mouse of epic proportions. Watching nature at it’s best, gets your heart pumping, and the adrenalin flowing.

The great white also breaches for the seal decoy. Rob and his crew tow a decoy, shaped like a seal from the back of his boat, to encourage the sharks to breach. This technique, allows for the ideal opportunity for photographers to try catch the flying sharks on film/camera and to find what areas are good sharks spots around the island. We only do this for a max of 30-40 minutes a time.

What is the best time of the year to see the sharks?

To view the sharks breaching in False Bay, Cape Town, the best time to go is in our winter months, from May to September. Great white sharks have also been seen to breach when they are not hunting. No one quite knows why.

African Shark Eco Charters has been operating in False Bay since 1995, and was the first great white shark charter company to have a licence in the area. Our operation was the first company to document and research the flying sharks. (The famous Airjaws and many more documentaries have been filmed from Rob’s boat.)