The cool May morning began early at the Waterfront, Cape Town, South Africa. Breakfast at 5:30 and a dark road transfer forty minutes to the historic beach town of Simon’s Town located on the eastern side of the Cape Peninsula on the shores of False Bay. Simon’s Town used to be the port for the Royal British Navy, now it’s the port for the South African Navy. The architecture is quaint Victorian and there are plenty of pubs, restaurants, B&B’s and neat things to see and do including the life-size statue of Able Seaman Just Nuisance, RN, the only dog (Great Dane) ever to be enlisted in the Royal Navy; and Boulder’s Beach is visually stunning and home to one of the world’s last breeding colonies of African (Jackass) penguins.
But we were here to meet Captain Rob and First Mate Derek and go visit the great white sharks of False Bay in one of the world’s only places where they breach high out of the water after Cape Fur Seals. Named False Bay because of the number of ships who would round Cape Hangklip and turn north thinking it was Cape Point only to find themselves in False Bay instead of sailing up the Atlantic coast, False Bay is about 20 miles across and rimmed with quaint towns, fishing villages and beautiful beaches; but it’s a tiny island called Seal Island where most of the action takes place.
There are three of us in the boat plus the Captain and Mate; we untie the ropes and cruise to the middle of False Bay to Seal Island, a true gem location in the African theater. 60,000 Cape Fur Seals inhabit this 1300ft x 165ft, 7ft high at high tide island, the seals must take to the sea and swim quite a distance to their feeding grounds, and therein lies the drama we have come to see.
The shark boats are small, not like big whale watching boats. The boat ride to Seal Island is about 40 minutes, it’s a gorgeous site as the sun rises over the bay and the shoreline is beautiful looking back. It is chilly, or better, crisp, and it is so pure and refreshing, the water is calm today and I am excited. We arrive at Seal Island and turn off the engines, straight out of the Discovery Channel but now real right in front of me, one of many surreal moments during this experience.
SHARK BREACH!!! I spin my head around and only see the aftermath of a huge splash in the calm sea; I missed it, but loved it anyway. We continue to scan the waters looking for solo seals, the seals fish far from the island, they try to swim in groups to throw off the sharks, but stragglers always happen, and these are the targets of the great whites. Viewing a great white shark breach is like viewing a shooting star, scan the water and then there out of the corner of your eye is a violent eruption from the water and then just a splash of disturbed water and perhaps a surface shark chase as the shark gobbles up the stunned seal. We focus on a single seal that has been separated from the group on its way back from feeding, as it porpoises through the water the anticipation builds and then bang, an eruption and a massive great white is hurling through the air contorting its massive body as the seal spins like a tiny doll high into the air.
SHARK BREACH!!! I turn and see a seal 20ft in the air and a shark landing sideways in the water, it was massive! The stunned seal is quickly deep in the sharks belly and he submerges and the water calms once again, brief moments of spectacular action followed by quiet calm.
The sharks were flying that morning, and only two small boats were in the area. I managed to actually see four breaches, one was right on the seal that I was tracking, the shooting star analogy is the best I can do, I didn’t manage one picture of a breach, too powerful and fast, paralyzing awe combined with raw speed present a photographers dilemma. Sometimes mental images are best.
By mid morning the breaching had subsided, so we utilized the decoy seal to entice curiosity. Great white sharks are extremely body aware and curious, they move around the boat very slowly and gracefully and sniff the decoy as the Mate slowly reels it closer, the shark is right there, touching distance, I was amazed by its size, much bigger than I had ever imagined. Sometimes the sharks will actually breach on the decoy seal, this is a magical experience witnessed just meters from the boat. The power and agility is awesome!
Viewing the sharks as they slowly sniffed the decoy next to the boat was the best as far as actually seeing the sharks clearly in their entirety, even better than the shark cage for visibility, but not so in terms of breath shortage and heart poundage.
The boat has a small steel cage meant for just two people; some boats have cages for up to six people. I put on the dry suit with hood and gloves, the water was very cold, the cage is secured to the back of the boat at water level. There is a hatch on the top which sits above the water. There are three options for using the cage; none require diving experience or certification:
- Sit on top of the cage with your legs in the water, when a shark is spotted coming to the boat you simply take a deep breath and submerge into the cage and hold your breath
- Use a snorkel
- Use the Hookah System; oxygen tanks are in the boat and a long breathing hose connects to the regulator in your mouth, this way you can stay under the water without coming up and down through the hatch
I hold my breath. The shark comes toward the boat and the Mate says “now”! I take a deep breath and submerge. There were a couple problems with this first attempt, I was so short of breath, hyperventilating with nervous anticipation, gulping air with short inhales like a cat in a car because the water was so cold and I was downright nervous; I managed to get enough oxygen in my lungs for about 3 seconds, I popped straight back out of the cage with a huge gasping inhale like I had been under for some record time. As soon as I calmed down it was much better. The visibility was not good that day, maybe 3ft, my friends on the boat saw 5 sharks that I could not see under the water, the boat really does offer a better vantage point for viewing but the cage is a very intense experience knowing you are right there in the water with these massive animals of lore.
On my 6th descent into the cage I was treated to a memory I will never ever forget, a fifteen foot great white shark slowly swam within inches of the cage, her big black eye seemed to stare straight into me as she silently and effortlessly swam in front of the cage and her enormous body seemed endless, and then she disappeared into the eerie murkiness. Truly surreal to be so close to this animal I had read and heard so many stories about.
The time flew by like a Cape Fur Seal after a great white shark breach. It was time to return to the dock. The day had been a huge success for shark viewing, much more intense, close, huge, un-crowded, beautiful and interactive than I was expecting; it was just our little boat amongst this unique natural phenomenon. We pulled into the marina at 1pm and bid farewell to Rob and Derek, we had a beer in the pub and went to Boulder’s Beach to visit the penguins.
The great white shark season in False Bay is April – September; False Bay is by far the best place in the world to see great whites breach during these months.
During the off-season (summer months) October – March, the sharks move inshore from Seal Island to feed on summer migrant species of fish so there is not much shark activity around Seal Island, and the False Bay shark charter boats don’t get permits to go that close to shore. During the off-season the best place to see the great white sharks is a two and a half hour drive from Cape Town just off the coast from a town called Gansbaai, there the boats have permits to go close to shore.
