Getting a small taste of adrenaline by bungee jumping, I realized it wasn't enough. I decided to this time I would go underwater instead of up in the and booked a shark cage diving experience. For our spring break, the university has arranged a trip to Cape Town but the bus doesn't leave until Monday. My roommate and I wanted to make the most of our time off so we went with two of our friends to Mossel Bay on Thursday night. Apparently, this town is a huge tourist attraction in South Africa and there were humongous hotels lining the beaches. We stayed in a hostel made out of a train. There were private rooms in a few of the cars but we were in the bunk bed car with ten other people. I didn't sleep super well that night but we had to get up early the next morning so I survived the seven hours on the top bunk.
When I say early, I mean early! Luckily the hostel was near White Shark Africa because we had to be there at 6:15am. When we arrived, there was a small breakfast buffet and we watched an informational video about the sharks in Mossel Bay and what our experience would entail. It turns out that the sharks swim less than a kilometer (just over half a mile) from the most popular beach on the bay. There is an island that seals occupy that the sharks swim around in search of food. Luckily, these sharks seem to ignore humans for the most part and hardly ever come towards the beach. After breakfast, we walked down to the boat to travel to the sharks. It was only a 20-minute ride to Seal Island and the water was pretty calm, even though it was cloudy and on the verge of rain.
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| Seal Island with some of the hotels on the beach behind it |
Our guide told us that after chumming, we could wait as long as five hours to see a shark. Three minutes after saying this, the first shark appeared next to the boat. The crew lowered the cage into the water and six people put on wet suits. Our group of four made it into this group and we eagerly hoped into the cage. My roommate just purchased a GoPro camera with a water-proof case which films HD quality movies. When he puts up the videos, I'll attach one here because they are awesome! The crew lured the sharks in with a tuna head on a string and the sharks loved it. We spent about 20 minutes in the water watching sharks swim less than six inches from the cage, sometimes bumping into the bars themselves. When we hopped out, the other six passengers went in and I took pictures of the sharks. We got a second chance to go in the cage and this time, instead of one shark, there were two or three swimming around the boat. We didn't have scuba gear, just a wet suit and goggles so you had to wait until the sharks were close and then hold your breath and go under. This was fine and gave you a really interesting perspective. You could see the fin above the water and when you went under, there was a 15-foot shark swimming right at your face. One of the sharks actually bit the cage right next to where I was swimming. The power that these animals have is astounding. Even a light brush from their tail would jostle the entire cage. The scariest thing was the shark's eyes. I've heard them described before but until the shark was a few inches from my face, I didn't understand how dark they were. An abyss of blackness doesn't come close to describing the feeling of when the shark looks at you.
For the most part, the sharks were pretty calm when passing us but they jumped or wrestled with the bait a few times. After both groups had gone twice, we went back in and had a small lunch. Overall, I saw four or five sharks continuously circle our boat for two hours and I got to touch two fins and one stomach. They are incredibly smooth and entirely muscle. If I saw one and I wasn't in a cage, I would crap my pants...no doubt. They are incredible beasts never to be underestimated.
We came back Friday afternoon and I've spent the past two days doing my homework for break and watching movies. It has been rainy and cold all weekend but I heard Cape Town is better. Expect more posts soon!
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