14/12/09 PM - Julia

Since yesterday it is very very windy outside. Nevertheless we run a successful trip today. The water temperature dropped to 12.5 °C, but at least it was sunny weather. We saw about 8 different sharks today, no resights. One was very bronze in colour, which looked especially beautiful in the sunlight. They are really gracefull animals.

The fifth day in a row now that we see more than one shark at the boat at the same time. The visibility was poor, probably because of the rough sea, but thankfully several sharks came really close to the cage. And also, after two days of quite calm sharks, we saw some nice breaches today! 

12/12/09 AM and PM - Julia

Again two trips today, season is coming closer. Nice weather, sunny and not much wind. On each trip we saw more than 10 sharks! Two resights: in the morning we saw `Tattoo`, a shark we encountered already several times in the past. In the afternoon we saw my favourite female shark again, the whale like one with the tip of the caudal fin off we encountered on the 7^th december for the first time. We named her `Gillscars` today, because of several white small scars around the gill area. They might come from failed mating attempts. Female sharks apparently have thicker skin around their gill area. That´s why it is thought, that male sharks bite the female during mating, maybe to stay attached to each other.

Again we had two or even three sharks at the same time around the boat, which is quite unusual (pic).

    

10/12/09 AM and PM - Julia

We launched two trips today. The visibility decreased to 4m down, because of the warm weather and no wind at all the algae began to bloom. But it also means, that the water is very warm at the moment, in the afternoon we measured 17°C! On our first trip we saw 10 different sharks, on the second 7. It was a great day. Because of the warmer water temperature, the sharks have lower energy expenses and they jump more easily. We had two nearly full breaches! One perfect vertical breach was actually performed by the peaceful female shark we encountered three days ago.

At some point we had three sharks at the same time around the boat. Two of them more or less collided while attempting the bait.

We also met Mikey again, a shark we saw now the third day in a row. He is a feisty 2.5 m male (all 3 pics). He got the bait three times that day, the poor visibility makes it easier for the sharks to appear all out of a sudden.

Altogether, the day was very successful, for us and for Mikey ;).

    

  09/12/09 - Russ

This morning Julia & I had our 3^rd lecture which was on Shark Behaviour, which again was very interesting, and again we were able to use what was learnt immediately! Unfortunately the water was full of blooming algae, which meant the visibility was very poor indeed, therefore it was very difficult for us all to see the sharks coming for the bait so the sharks got their reward 3 times today! Which the clients thought was outstanding. Back at the ranch my cooking skills are in full swing and after a (reasonably) successful attempt at a Carrot Cake, I treated the returning volunteer Matheus to my special Pasta Al Forno which he was suitably impressed with! I just need to work on a Vegan dish for Julia!

 

07/12/09 PM - Julia

I think I met my favourite shark today: a 3m female and the calmest shark I saw so far. She kept on going very slowly for the bait and diving deep down afterwards for nearly the whole trip. She reminded me almost of a whale, so slow and calm. The dorsal fin and also the caudal fin were very distinctive, the tip of the upper lobe of the caudal fin was actually missing (pic). The visibility was unbelievable: more than 10m down, which means, you could see the seafloor. The clients were amazed by our beautiful female shark, too (pic).

05/12/09 PM - Julia

18 clients at the afternoon trip today, beautiful weather and very active sharks. Especially one 2.8 m female stayed close to the boat almost the whole trip. It was a resight from yesterday, the one that tried to bite into the corner of the cage. She really wanted to get the bait this time – and finally succeded. Even after she got the bait she came back to the boat, which is quite unusual. Again it was my job to record data about the sharks. During the trip, three other sharks visited the boat.
 

6/12/09 – Russ

Another film crew this morning, this time ESPN Brazil whom are obviously doing some work on South Africa for the forthcoming FIFA World Cup. Again they were fortunate with the conditions and the sharks. One shark was very persistent yet patient staying around for what seemed the entire morning – we named her “Gill Scars” after the clearly distinguishable scarring around the gills, we presume from mating/attempted mating. Eventually she got her reward and managed to grab the bait after another shark had taken our attention so we didn’t see her coming.

04/12/09 PM - Julia

Today we had an exclusive trip with a team from a TV documentary channel. It was great fun! As usual, I recorded the data and tried to get some nice pictures of the dorsal fins of the sharks for long term identification. The sharks were very active, we saw 9 different sharks. One female tried to bite into the corner of the cage, that was so awesome! The two guys in the cage had so much fun. I preferred to stay over water, though. And it was rewarded, I saw my first shark breaching fully out of the water! And I got a picture of it!

4/12/09 – Russ

We had lectures this morning from Julia who also is the onboard Videographer and also the person who makes sure us volunteers are all ok (she’s brilliant!). Today we learnt about the Biology & Field Mark Identification and also Shark Attacks. All very interesting and insightful, enabling us to have better knowledge of the sharks so we can answer the clients questions. Only the one trip today, Mandla & I saw a fleet of big men driving Harley Davidson’s turn up so we packed all the biggest wetsuits only to find out they were to be on another boat, we just had a film crew of 3 clients!  The film cr        ew  couldn’t of asked for better conditions, perfect visibility, low winds and lovely clear skies and sunshine…but most importantly excellent sharks! We had a number of mini breeches (pic 4), one shark even took a nibble of the cage to which there was a shout at the cameraman – “Please tell me you got that!?!”. I got to go in the cage again to accompany the camera man and the sharks were everywhere, I was following a shark around the back of the cage and as a result missed the full breech right in front…gutted!!

 

3/12/09 – Russ

Awoke to a beautiful 5am clear sky (pic 3), makes these early morning starts all worthwhile! Another 2 trips today and the visibility was so good we could see the bottom and therefore a lot of shark action! Fortunately I was able to get back in the cage in the afternoon and the excitement was the same as the first time. A lot of wetsuits needed to be washed this evening!!

2/12/09 – Russ

Two trips today and the crew were very helpful and introducing me to the duties onboard I could help out with. The anchor and securing of the cage is hard work but that’s not a complaint, as I really want to get stuck in. The visibility for the clients was excellent (better than yesterday) and they really enjoyed the sharks. I don’t think it’s possible to get bored of seeing these magnificent creatures. Afterwards Mandla, Shaun & I had to re-rope one of the sections of the cage which protects both the clients and the sharks (should they decide to chew the cage!) and this was really hard work and took nearly 2 hours. My hands hurt and I ache in places I’m not used to but it’s brilliant, sleeping is not a problem!

1/12/09 – Russ

What a first day!! I have to admit my stomach was playing tricks on me, as I was a bundle of nerves. Sharks used to be one of my biggest fears…not anymore! Our first trip was exceptional with good visibility and 10 sharks, which was way more than I expected…I would have been happy with one! I had seen breaching before on television and asked Gerald (the skipper) if it was common to which he explained it was very rare for this time of year. Just at that moment a 3m shark breached and I managed to capture a great shot…my first one taken (pic 1)! Gerald laughed and shook his head! The sharks were very active (pic 2), and under the water the sheer beauty and power of these animals was all to see, as well as their intelligence. Tip for those coming in the future – get lithium batteries for underwater video cameras as my alkaline couldn’t stand the cold-water temperature and froze up so I missed out on some excellent video footage. The house we are staying in is awesome and again exceeds expectations…I’m going to enjoy my 4 weeks here!

01/12/09 AM - Julia

Today was my first day at the Great White Shark Project and it was also the first cage dive in my life. I was so excited – and it was even better than I imagined! We saw altogether 10 different sharks. They were very active, several breached partly out of the water. After the trip Russell, the second new volunteer, and I were totally happy.