Weeks shark summary 17^th – 22^nd June 2009:

18/06/09

Shark Team was anchored on the south side of the island where the shark activity has been great with nice working conditions. I was not at sea on this particular trip but from the information recorded on the sharks it looked like a brilliant trip with a total of 15 different sharks ranging in length between 2.0 and 3.4 metres. Dotty a 2.2 metre female was present on this trip, a shark we have recently named and got to know well around the boat. Her fins and body are covered with small white marks making her very distinct.    

Slashfin, a relatively large male around 3.2 metres made an appearance on this trip.

19/06/09

Anchored on the same spot as the day before these 2 trips would prove to be fantastic! We saw 12 different sharks in the morning and 11 on the afternoon tour. Dotty and Slashfin also paid a visit to the boat.  We had a male shark around 3.0 metres with an old oceanographic research tag in the right hand flank just below the dorsal. These tags are used for capture/ recapture studies providing information on initial and final locations on the target animal. They have limited use as more technologically advanced tags using satellite and acoustic signals are used today giving much better insight into the biology and behaviour of sharks. This tag appears from in colour as algae and other organisms grow on the tags over time. On the afternoon we had a small 2.6 metre female shark approach the vessel. She appeared very calm and inquisitive investigating the boat as she circled us. She was so interested in what was going on around her that she stuck her head above the surface of the water to take a look at me at the back of the boat, a behaviour known as spy hopping! Unfortunately this small shark and her inquisitive nature has got her into some trouble, a large trace with 3 hooks was hanging from her mouth, obviously one was imbedded in her jaw bless her. Whilst this fishing tackle is not designed to catch this species it is but just one of the very real threats that white sharks and their cousins face today.

20/06/09

We had great shark activity on both tours. Slashfin was present making his usual appearance and then going about the rest of his business for the day. He has seemed to be very lethargic around the vessel this season, maybe he is getting older and wiser, who knows! There is just so much we really don’t know about these magnificent creatures. As we were leaving the cage to go back for the 2^nd trip we saw a large 3.5 metre shark that was incredibly fat, a female we would get to know well and name ‘Big Girl’. On the second trip we got well acquainted with Big Girl as she made her presence known around the boat. She has 2 large clumps of parasites on either side of her head making her easy to identify in the short term.   As well as big girl and the other sharks we were treated with added bonus of a mother humpback with her calf. They moved into the channel mouth and then passed right by Shark Team and then out to sea, stunning!!!

21/06/09

Anchored up close to Geyser Rock, today was stunning, nice calm sea conditions, brilliant sharks and can you believe it another added bonus of a mother humpback with her calf. After checking the photographs, specifically the dorsal fins and body markings it was clear that the humpbacks we saw today and yesterday were different. This is the same method I use to identify the whites, a method known as fin-printing which was originally adapted from cetacean research. Humpbacks migrate along the South African coastline on their way back from their breeding grounds in Mozambique.  The juvenile humpback could be seen in the distance with its head out of the water playing with a piece of kelp in its mouth!

 

We had 7 different sharks in the morning followed by 9 in the afternoon. Sharks observed for the day that we have become familiar with included Slashfin, Big Girl and another shark with roughly a third of the top of the dorsal fin missing.

22/06/09

The whole week has been beautiful so far and today the weather was still nice but another cold front is rolling through the Western Cape. We had 2 trips, again anchored up close to Geyser rock having 14 sharks for the day. Big Girl really came out of her shell on the afternoon tour showing the awesome power of the Great white shark. Up until now she has been very bold around the boat but she must have been particularly hungry on this trip breeching almost fully out of the water trying to catch the bait. These sharks are few and far between, maybe one in a hundred but when you get them, well what can I say, WOW!!!

My favourite little shark, ‘Nemo’, a 2.5m female also made a brief appearance in the afternoon. Nemo is very easy to identify as her dorsal fin is damaged and 70% of her right hand pectoral is missing. She appears to be doing well and surviving which was my major worry last time she left the bay. It just shows you how robust these animals really are.