What’s so great about the Great White Shark?

There’s something very special about the Great White Shark.  Over 400 species of sharks are known to Science. Each and every one of them is fascinating in its own special way.  Yet in the public’s imagination, only one shark species looms larger than all the others combined….. The Great White!

The Great White is a veritable ‘superstar’ among sharks.  It has come to represent the very epitome of sharkiness and is the ‘hands-down’ favorite of virtually every shark enthusiast.

What makes the Great White Shark ‘Great’?  I think it comes down to a combination of 4 qualities:

• It is a very large animal, growing more to more than 20 feet (6 metres) in length and 2 tons in mass.  We humans are intrinsically awed by sheer size and a full-grown Great Whiteis certainly an impressive animal.
• The Great White is an apex shark, having killed or injured more people than any other shark species.  We are strangely yet powerfully drawn to frightening things, as though we cannot resist getting pretty close to things that can harm us.
• It is s particularly “pretty shark’ – featuring prominent dark eyes,  an appealing clown-like grin,  clean and elegant lines and striking contrast between the dark upper and white lower coloration.  It also moves with a smooth, hypnotic grace that many of us admire and even envy.
• The Great White is mysterious, going about its secret life in alien, liquid universe our senses can barely penetrate.

Any one of these qualities is sufficient to make a creature to stand out in awareness.  But the highly unusual combination of all four of them renders The Great White so fascinating as to be almost irresistible!

Now ask yourself….what’s so great about the Great White Sharks of False Bay? Let me tell you….

Located at the head of False Bay, is the beautiful yet picturesque island called Seal Island.  It is home to more than 30, 000 Cape Fur Seals and the population swells to over twice that in the breeding season. During the winter months, a steady stream of Great Whites enter the vicinity of the Island to prey on the seals for a few days, after which they move on for parts unknown?

During the season, or any given morning, you can see a dozen or more natural predatory dramas, the sharks often breaching completely out of the water in pursuit of the agile seals.  After the predations, baiting can lure in a multiple of sharks at a time.

In my opinion, this is simply the BEST place on earth to see lots of Great Whites doing what they do best!

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