"That's really dumb..."
- Chris Dobbs (After he was told I was going to go cage diving with Great White Sharks today)
I used to go scuba diving. For around three years I was really into the sport and had the chance to go on a couple of dozen nice dives. Then, time, work, age, and lack of water in Indiana made it more difficult to go. I still have the gear, but it sits mostly unused.
However, during that time that time I was reading and watching anything I could about diving. I saw a documentary about cage diving with real great white sharks and I told myself if I was ever in South Africa I would really like to have that experience. Like, I would EVER be in South Africa!
I am in South Africa.
So we are traveling along the lovely southern coast and I thought, here is my moment! We stopped in Mossel Bay, one of the known sites, and found a place. Nearby was a nice safe place for Colleen to wait for me. She wanted to bungee jump but she drew the line at this opportunity.
I guess both Colleen and Chris had this image on their minds from a story on ABC news -
I felt fine. You see in my situation we would not be bothering with scuba gear and we are loaded 6 at a time in the cage so my odds were better that another chap would get eaten first.
We set off from the harbor. Our hosts were two young men with long hair, handsome, and deeply tanned. They had incredible sunglasses, were in their 20’s, and enthusiastic. I called them the “Shark Bro’s” for their surfer dude vibe and love of inserting ‘Dude’ or ‘Bro’ in almost every sentence. It was like going to sea with a young Big Lebowski.
One Bro was very talkative and would work the guests with stories of the bay, the sharks, sea life, and his love of all things nature. I called him “Chatty Bro” The other was quiet and intense. He tended to stay on the stern of the boat and work the chum. I called him ‘“Brooding Bro”. Both looked like marijuana was an important part of their daily diet.
We set off into the bay. The morning sun was coming up and it was warm. The seas were calm. We were headed for an island in the middle of the bay that was covered in sea lions which are a principle source of food for the sharks.
Sea lions are adorable and agile. Their playful antics can promise hours of enjoyment. They also stink like nothing I have smelled before. Flash, on his best day, smells like perfume compared to these beauties. A colony of them create their own chum slick on the water and they have the distinction of being one of the few mammals that sleep where they defecate. They are so noisy. A non stop cacophony of bleats, barks, and a deep burps that sound like your uncle after to many beers.
We anchored just downwind of them.
We know very little about Great White Sharks. They tend to die in captivity and are difficult to observe in the wild. They are ambush predators. They will swim below the surface looking for an object on the surface that resembles a seal or other prey. Then they rocket upwards at great speed to bite and stun the animal before it has a chance to escape. The sea lions know this which is why they mostly only go out in groups to confuse the big fish or at night.
Great Whites, as a rule, do not eat humans or hunt them. The last incident with a Great White here in South Africa was 1989. The big animals are curious however. They lack hands and fingers so they explore the world by biting on things. If they bite a human leg off they will spit it out because it is not what they eat. However, you are left with one leg. They have been a protected species here since 1991.
Since they are the apex predators, in the ocean they play an important role in the ecosystem. They are rather like the lions we saw in Kruger Park. If they are gone, the whole system upends leading to havoc with the environment.
Today, Great Whites are disappearing at an alarming rate. It is difficult to know why. Long line and net fishing is a problem. Most likely it is yet another thing to add to the list of climate change issues. . The waters are warming here and the sea life is changing. The animals are moving to a source of food they can find.
I just wanted to see one.
So the Shark Bro’s took charge. Brooding Bro began ladling out a chum slick. Chum is fish bits, sardine oil, and sea water. Blood, despite hollywood, is not used or needed. This mixture is supposed to attract the sharks. Brooding bro worked hard. Before we were done he would put 3 trash can sized loads of chum would create a wake 75 yards wide and over a mile long. The stuff still smelled better than the sea lions.
Chatty Bro was working a severed Tuna head. He would throw it again and again into the water like a lure to try to bring one of the big predators to the surface.
Both Bro’s were so close to the edge of the boat, I could not help but think of this classic scene
The cage was set up. The morning sun penetrated several feet into the water. There were shadows everywhere. I was a little tense and ready for a jump scare. Chatty Bro kept assuring us they could pop up any minute looking for something to eat. In the waters you could see thousands of anchovies and mackerel roiling under the surface, their silver sides reflecting in the sun for just a moment.
It was beautiful and thrilling. I was ready for my moment. Just a chance to see one in the wild would be a privilege and worth the small of the sea lions. I sat on the fly bridge with a perfect spot to photograph the event. I was going to capture on film the moment when it breached. The light was perfect. I held my camera tightly. I wanted a shot like this when it happened.
I was ready.
“It sometimes takes awhile dudes, “ Chatty Bro said’ “Yesterday we had a 4 meter one right here” He pointed to the water. We stared at it in wonder.
I was ready. Any minute now it would emerge.
Chatty went on. He would tell us more about the gulls, terns, the sharks, and how he so loved the Bay that he changed his life plans to work here to help these animals.
“You know Bro, Terns eat by making Seagulls throw up”
“Everything in this Bay belongs to the chain of life dudes. it is so important that we save them!”
“I just love everything here”
Before long you could see a sea lion swimming in our chum slick.
“Come on sharky! Eat the bastard!”, Chatty shouted.
So much for the love.
I was willing to wait. I began to wonder how the Bros were going to get 14 people in and out of wet suits and 6 at a time in and out of a cage and still keep a shark interested. I thought perhaps we could use the teenager who never stopped vaping on the stern of the boat as incentive.
The anchovies reflected the sun like a watery disco ball.
After two hours passed, the Bros could feel the crew was getting restless. Murmurs of mutiny were afoot. Kids, who had come on the boat, had long since given up. They were getting a Wifi signal from the beach and were now lost lost on social media.
Chatty announced, “No worries. Dudes this sometimes happens. We are going to move to the south side of the island.. We will get you a righteous one. A big Johnnie. No problem!”
Brooding Bro stopped chumming and we pulled up anchor. The engines coughed to life and the screws began to turn. This is a small island. The south side was only 75 yards away. Moving that short distance would surely allow more room for a 12 to 18 foot fish to find us. We dropped anchor again after only 5 minutes of movement.
But at least we were upwind of the Sea lions.
I was willing to wait. I survived a car accident with an elephant. I was ready for my moment and I knew it would come just like when we were on Safari.
And then…..
Nothing, absolutely nothing happened.
Not a single shark of any size. Barrels of chum in the water and a throughly soaked tuna head was dragged for three hours. The seagulls were happy.
It was at that moment that I realized that I had paid for a four hour trip to cage dive with anchovies. I can bear witness that the cage offered little protection form the small fish. They swam right through it.
“Wow, sometimes happens bro,” Chatty explained, “Come back again and we will sort this out and show you some of the big Johnnies!”
There are those who oppose this tourist activity. The argument goes that it changes the behavior of the animals, much like the feeding of the baboons. Years ago, they used to encourage travelers to bring oranges to Kruger to lure elephants on the road. It worked to well and many cars were wrecked in the process. They stopped this activity.
Here is an essay showing an opposing view.
Many explanations were put forth by Chatty for our lack of success.
“It may have been the Orcas!”
This part is true. Over the last month a pair of Orcas have been working the bay. The locals have nicknamed them “Port and Starboard”. They are easily recognizable by their deformed dorsal fins. Orcas do occasionally hunt Great Whites and they are about the only thing in the sea that can defeat them.
So as I got off the boat I said to Chatty, “So you are saying this is Shamu’s fault?”
“Dude, who is Shamu?”
I smiled, gave him a tip, and went to find Colleen.
Maybe Chris was right after all.
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