Sunday, October 10, 2010
A Day on The Shark Team Slideshow
A Day on The Shark Team Slideshow: "TripAdvisor™ TripWow ★ A Day on The Shark Team Slideshow ★ to Cape Town and Gansbaai by White Shark Projects. Stunning free travel slideshows on TripAdvisor"
Monday, October 4, 2010
Shark Volunteer Stories
Frank Heinen joined our volunteer programme in August and September. A little bit about Frank: I currently live in Roermond, a medium-sized (at least to Dutch standards) city in Limburg, the most southern province of the country. I have bachelor's degrees in ancient and contemporary political history and a master's degree in contemporary political history. I am a (freelance) reporter and writer, specialized in stories on history, nature and politics. From early childhood on nature and animals has been a lifelong passion. I'm especially captivated by terrestrial predators, reptiles & amphibians, birds of prey, ungulates, cetaceans and of course sharks. The great white shark ranks highly among my favourite animals. The mystery that still surrounds this animal, the power and grace of the great white, a truly intriguing animal.
Here Frank shares his last observations with us.
The dreaded moment finally arrived: my last day amongst the magnificent great white sharks of Gansbaai. But what a fine last trip it turned out to be. Some beautiful sharks and a couple of fabulous displays of shark behavior. My last trip ended on a high note, when a very feisty shark grabbed the bait only a couple of inches from the cage and the boat. She even said goodbye with a big slap from her tail, leaving David and me covered in a wet and salty cloud of ocean spray. Luckily, David managed to get some good pictures of various dorsal fins today, very important information for research purposes. Saying goodbye to South Africa, the many inspiring people I met during my stay in Gansbaai and off course to the stunningly beautiful great whites was not easy. In the end the experience even superseded the already high expectations I had before I came to South Africa and highlighted - both on a personal and a collective level (as human beings) - the importance of shark conservation and the protection of all the other pristine ecosystems that planet earth still harbours. I would like to thank (in no specific order) all my fellow volunteers, Julia, Andreas, Rene, Charmaine, Andy, Jane, Gerald, Grant, Mandla, Maoli, Shaun, Abraham, Liz, David and all the other great people I met. Thanks for making me feel at home instantly and making all of this possible. Keep up the good work and hopefully we will meet again in the nearby future.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Frank Heinen's Volunteer Stories
A great day on the Atlantic today. A very calm sea and literally loads of spectacular shark action. We moved from Dyer Island and Geldsteen Reef down into the shallows near Joubert’s Dam for the first time this winter. And it definitely paid off. During the morning trip seven different sharks were spotted near the boat and most of them stayed around for quite a while, inquisitively checking out the bait. A small male especially showed off his feisty nature and went for the bait vigorously quite a few times. This shark, together wit a big, 3 meter plus female, showed great interest in the treats that were offered to them. Both sharks returned to the boat during the second trip of the day, a trip that will probably not easy be forgotten by everyone who was on board on this very special afternoon. The star of the day was a huge and bulky 3.3 meter female, quite easily recognizable because of the white spot on the tip of her nose and some old scars on the back of her head. This shark really gave away a formidable show! Multiple bait attempts and a couple of (3-4) spectacular breaches really awed the clients, volunteers and crew members on the boat. And to put the icing on the natural cake she also took the bait twice, forcing Mandla to loosen his grip in order to avoid an involuntary skinny-dip in the quite cool (12 degrees) waters of the South-African Atlantic. Quite obviously everyone returned to Kleinbaai harbor with a feeling of true satisfaction, a bag full of memories and a lot of hardy stories to tell back home.
2 september 2010
The shark action has really gotten into gear the past couple of days and today was no exception. The feisty, breeching female from 2 days ago showed herself again and went for the bait in spectacular fashion several times again. Besides her, we saw seven more magnificent great whites during the morning, some of them very inquisitive and lively around the boat. The sharks during the afternoon trip were a little calmer, but most of them stayed around for quite a while. At times there were literally to or three sharks circling the boat, often crossing inches apart from each other. It’s always interesting to see that the smaller shark mostly backs away when a bigger shark enriches the crew and clients with its awesome presence. After a decent august month, that was however troubled by a few nasty storms, September certainly got off to a great start.
Shark activity 5 September 2010
Another great day at the office. It took a while for the sharks to turn up during our morning trip, but eventually some very inquisitive and active sharks appeared, really delivering the stuff right in front of the cage. Especially the kids on board of the Shark Team had the time of their life, seeing the apex predator of the South
African seas in action from up close. The sea was nice and calm, unlike yesterday when the sea was choppy and the ride out to Joubert’s Dam quite bumpy. We had no clients in the afternoon, but still went out for a volunteer exclusive. And what a trip it turned out to be. Seven sharks visited the cage, amongst them two, three meter plus females. What an awesome experience to look such formidable creatures straight in the eye. One shark even decided to check out my side of the cage, giving the cage a gentle bite a couple of inches away from my hands. Multiple bait attempts even further enhanced the experience. There was so much going on that there was literally virtually no time to come up for a breath of air. The by now familiar words ‘down’, ‘down left’, ‘down right’ and ‘stay down’ kept echoing around the boat. Generally, the shark action seems to be very good around Joubert’s Dam at the moment. A promising foresight for the upcoming day and the rest of the month.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Sharks Feed off whales
When a whale carcass was towed to Seal Island in False Bay, known as a spot where great white sharks hunt, one might have expected a feeding frenzy with the big predators fighting each other and ripping into whatever they could bite off.
Turns out this was not the case. According to Alison Kock, principal scientist of the Save Our Seas Shark Centre and Shark Spotting Programme, the sharks were highly selective in what part of the whale they ate, and showed very little aggression towards each other.
"Contrary to their reputation as mindless killers, the level of selectivity for which parts of the dead whale they ate was extraordinary.
"They targeted the energy-rich blubber, often making repeated 'test bites' where no flesh was removed, and removing flesh only once they had determined it was what they wanted. If they got a mouthful of muscle, they often spat it out," Kock said yesterday.
The 11m dead Brydes whale was spotted a couple of weeks ago by Chris Fallows of Apex Expeditions floating towards Miller's Point. Had it washed ashore, the authorities would have had to remove the carcass, a time-consuming and expensive operation. The authorities therefore gave permission for the SA Navy to tow the whale to Seal Island, where the sharks could dispose of the carcass by feeding on it.
"And it gave us a great opportunity to document white shark behaviour and record the number of sharks in the area," Kock said.
Over nine days she recorded 30 different sharks feeding on the whale. Each shark's dorsal fin is different, providing a kind of "fingerprint". Many Kock recognised, but some she had not seen before.
"I was surprised by the number of white sharks that fed on it. They showed very little aggression toward one another, often feeding side by side."
Their highly selective feeding, spitting out muscle if they bit into it by mistake, may shed light on why over 70 percent of white shark attacks on people are "bite and release", Kock said.
"It is evidence that when they bite into a surfboard, or kayak or person wearing a wetsuit, they can immediately determine it's not something they want to eat," she said.
The sharks reduced the 11m whale carcass to 2m of muscle and bone in nine days.
melanie.gosling@inl.co.za
• This article was originally published on page 1 of Cape Times on September 20, 2010
Turns out this was not the case. According to Alison Kock, principal scientist of the Save Our Seas Shark Centre and Shark Spotting Programme, the sharks were highly selective in what part of the whale they ate, and showed very little aggression towards each other.
"Contrary to their reputation as mindless killers, the level of selectivity for which parts of the dead whale they ate was extraordinary.
"They targeted the energy-rich blubber, often making repeated 'test bites' where no flesh was removed, and removing flesh only once they had determined it was what they wanted. If they got a mouthful of muscle, they often spat it out," Kock said yesterday.
The 11m dead Brydes whale was spotted a couple of weeks ago by Chris Fallows of Apex Expeditions floating towards Miller's Point. Had it washed ashore, the authorities would have had to remove the carcass, a time-consuming and expensive operation. The authorities therefore gave permission for the SA Navy to tow the whale to Seal Island, where the sharks could dispose of the carcass by feeding on it.
"And it gave us a great opportunity to document white shark behaviour and record the number of sharks in the area," Kock said.
Over nine days she recorded 30 different sharks feeding on the whale. Each shark's dorsal fin is different, providing a kind of "fingerprint". Many Kock recognised, but some she had not seen before.
"I was surprised by the number of white sharks that fed on it. They showed very little aggression toward one another, often feeding side by side."
Their highly selective feeding, spitting out muscle if they bit into it by mistake, may shed light on why over 70 percent of white shark attacks on people are "bite and release", Kock said.
"It is evidence that when they bite into a surfboard, or kayak or person wearing a wetsuit, they can immediately determine it's not something they want to eat," she said.
The sharks reduced the 11m whale carcass to 2m of muscle and bone in nine days.
melanie.gosling@inl.co.za
• This article was originally published on page 1 of Cape Times on September 20, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
Spring 2010 Newsletter
Dear fellow shark lovers
What a winter! World Cup Soccer fever hit Kleinbaai with a vengeance and we hosted a record number of trips. Brazilian, Mexican, Dutch and many other overseas visitors joined us for unforgettable encounters with great white sharks. Our wonderful sharks performed beautifully for their World Cup crowd.
Thank you to all our visitors who gave us a fun and cosmopolitan winter – and a special thank you to our Mexican visitors who treated us to tastings of real Mexican tequila after a great day at sea!
Our spring sightings are well under way. The water has warmed up earlier this year and we're already looking forward to greeting our many summer visitors – not least the southern right whales. Come and see these magnificient creatures as they bask in our waters from September to January. They come close inshore to calve and mate. We view these marine wonders with awe and respect.
And the winner is...
Our White Shark Projects photo competition has closed and excited entrants are awaiting the announcement of the winner on 14 September. Who caught the definitive white shark shot? Or maybe it was a moment captured on the faces of friends or family that caught the judges' eye. Our winner will join us for a wonderful 21-day volunteer programme. We can't wait to welcome you aboard.
Our conservation work goes international
We have always been serious about the contribution we make to local data bases on the sightings and movements of white sharks in our waters. Thanks to Michael Scholl, we now are also submitting our information to the International White Shark PhotoID Project. A team of scientists led by a British university are building a computer system aimed at identifying every great white shark in the world's oceans. The scheme involves the equivalent of fingerprinting the animals, storing images of their unique dorsal fins on a database.
This is a wonderful development in shark conservation efforts. When researchers can source data on a global scale, they can really start to understand the habits and conservation needs of these threatened creatures.
It's a particularly exciting time, therefore, for our new marine biologist to be joining us. David Arnott is all set to continue our valuable work in data gathering and collating. Welcome on board, David. We look forward to fascinating and fun times with you.
Community update
On Tuesdays, the White Shark Projects recycling Swop Shop encourages children from our local, often impoverished, community to swop recyclables for basic school supplies, as an added bonus, they also get a bowl of steaming soup. A particularly cold winter has meant a long line at the soup kitchen. Somehow volunteer Nellie Moolman and her right hand Veronica Msopi have managed to keep up with demand. 'We've served about 160 bowls of soup every Tuesday,' laughs Nellie. It seems her bean soup is in demand! Thank you for the love you show these children, Nellie and Veronica.
Don't forget, if you live nearby, the Swop Shop is always in need of school supplies and basics to encourage our young recyclers.
A Little Shoppe with a big mission
We've opened a branch of The Little Shoppe in Kleinbaai! This is an exciting extension of our efforts to promote sustainable tourism in our area. Set in the harbour, the shop sells only locally produced products and is a vibrant place for clients and artists to come together. Everything is handmade and everything has a story to tell - either that of the artist or the materials used. We hope that sales to tourists will develop into larger orders or exporting opportunities. Artists are from disadvantaged communities of the Overstrand and own their own products. The Little Shoppe is in a Closed Corporation with a 67% black ownership and with the dynamic Alda du Plooy leading the project.
Come and see our wares!
I'll be signing off now. It's a clear and sunny morning in the Overberg. Just perfect for sharks!
Very best wishes
What a winter! World Cup Soccer fever hit Kleinbaai with a vengeance and we hosted a record number of trips. Brazilian, Mexican, Dutch and many other overseas visitors joined us for unforgettable encounters with great white sharks. Our wonderful sharks performed beautifully for their World Cup crowd.
Thank you to all our visitors who gave us a fun and cosmopolitan winter – and a special thank you to our Mexican visitors who treated us to tastings of real Mexican tequila after a great day at sea!
Our spring sightings are well under way. The water has warmed up earlier this year and we're already looking forward to greeting our many summer visitors – not least the southern right whales. Come and see these magnificient creatures as they bask in our waters from September to January. They come close inshore to calve and mate. We view these marine wonders with awe and respect.
And the winner is...
Our White Shark Projects photo competition has closed and excited entrants are awaiting the announcement of the winner on 14 September. Who caught the definitive white shark shot? Or maybe it was a moment captured on the faces of friends or family that caught the judges' eye. Our winner will join us for a wonderful 21-day volunteer programme. We can't wait to welcome you aboard.
Our conservation work goes international
We have always been serious about the contribution we make to local data bases on the sightings and movements of white sharks in our waters. Thanks to Michael Scholl, we now are also submitting our information to the International White Shark PhotoID Project. A team of scientists led by a British university are building a computer system aimed at identifying every great white shark in the world's oceans. The scheme involves the equivalent of fingerprinting the animals, storing images of their unique dorsal fins on a database.
This is a wonderful development in shark conservation efforts. When researchers can source data on a global scale, they can really start to understand the habits and conservation needs of these threatened creatures.
It's a particularly exciting time, therefore, for our new marine biologist to be joining us. David Arnott is all set to continue our valuable work in data gathering and collating. Welcome on board, David. We look forward to fascinating and fun times with you.
Community update
On Tuesdays, the White Shark Projects recycling Swop Shop encourages children from our local, often impoverished, community to swop recyclables for basic school supplies, as an added bonus, they also get a bowl of steaming soup. A particularly cold winter has meant a long line at the soup kitchen. Somehow volunteer Nellie Moolman and her right hand Veronica Msopi have managed to keep up with demand. 'We've served about 160 bowls of soup every Tuesday,' laughs Nellie. It seems her bean soup is in demand! Thank you for the love you show these children, Nellie and Veronica.
Don't forget, if you live nearby, the Swop Shop is always in need of school supplies and basics to encourage our young recyclers.
A Little Shoppe with a big mission
We've opened a branch of The Little Shoppe in Kleinbaai! This is an exciting extension of our efforts to promote sustainable tourism in our area. Set in the harbour, the shop sells only locally produced products and is a vibrant place for clients and artists to come together. Everything is handmade and everything has a story to tell - either that of the artist or the materials used. We hope that sales to tourists will develop into larger orders or exporting opportunities. Artists are from disadvantaged communities of the Overstrand and own their own products. The Little Shoppe is in a Closed Corporation with a 67% black ownership and with the dynamic Alda du Plooy leading the project.
Come and see our wares!
I'll be signing off now. It's a clear and sunny morning in the Overberg. Just perfect for sharks!
Very best wishes
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Gansbaai's Sharks in Summer
This year has according to both skippers been the best February that we have ever had. Every trip has resulted in us seeing multiple sharks in the Jouberts Dam area opposite Pearly Beach. One trip that sticks out in mind involved a 3.5m female doing a full vertical breech 20 meters off the stern for absolutely no reason!! There were no prey items in the area, our visual target (the bait) and chum line which creates the artificial scavenging scenario for the shark was moving away from the boat in an SE direction. Given the fact that we were only in 10m depth of water the shark must have been doing in excess of 45kph the launch itself vertically straight out of the water (thanks goes to Mary one of our white shark projects volunteers who has graduated in physics for this estimate). Only a privileged few saw this spectacle (ah the benefits of getting involved with chumming!), the white underbelly gleaming in the bright sunshine was an awesome sight to behold! It also acts as a stark reminder of how beautiful and powerful these animals are.
This month has also seen some unusual environmental conditions, the water has been as warm as 21 C (the average temperature this time of year is normally between 9-14 C), and on some days the visibility has been nigh on perfect enabling those on board to see to the sandy bottom of Jouberts dam. The warmer water temperatures have resulted in the sharks being more active, and more willing to expend energy chasing the bait. One shark in particular called “Mickey” due to the pattern he has on his dorsal fin seems to relish the opportunity to rush the bait from deep, and on one occasion the bait line had been thrown out for the first time on an afternoon trip and before the bait handler had time to reach down to pick up the rope Mickey had the tuna head in his mouth and didn’t intend to let go!
We have also seen on two occasions the chum line attracting another great marine predator in this area a little lower down the food chain, that predator being the cape fur sea. We had two good working sharks both females and around 3M in length that had stayed around the boat for over an hour when the seal appeared. It swam towards the boat investigating the source of the chum, anticipation grew on the boat with everyone expecting the shark to burst from the depths and predate on the seal. Instead the seal came close to the boat and then it left without incident. The two sharks then reappeared 5 minutes later, given the sharks array of senses there is no doubt that the shark knew the seal was present (and vice versa) but chose not to attempt an attack. On another occasion a seal not only popped up in the chum line and swam to the boat but decided the tuna head on the bait line looked like quite a tempting free snack. The seal proceeded to attach itself to the tuna head and began to chew it!! Once again the seal left without incident despite there being sharks in the vicinity that we had been lucky enough to see on a regular basis. Who knows what amazing sights we will be privileged to on our next trip!! To book your trip, visit us on www.whitesharkprojects.co.za
This month has also seen some unusual environmental conditions, the water has been as warm as 21 C (the average temperature this time of year is normally between 9-14 C), and on some days the visibility has been nigh on perfect enabling those on board to see to the sandy bottom of Jouberts dam. The warmer water temperatures have resulted in the sharks being more active, and more willing to expend energy chasing the bait. One shark in particular called “Mickey” due to the pattern he has on his dorsal fin seems to relish the opportunity to rush the bait from deep, and on one occasion the bait line had been thrown out for the first time on an afternoon trip and before the bait handler had time to reach down to pick up the rope Mickey had the tuna head in his mouth and didn’t intend to let go!
We have also seen on two occasions the chum line attracting another great marine predator in this area a little lower down the food chain, that predator being the cape fur sea. We had two good working sharks both females and around 3M in length that had stayed around the boat for over an hour when the seal appeared. It swam towards the boat investigating the source of the chum, anticipation grew on the boat with everyone expecting the shark to burst from the depths and predate on the seal. Instead the seal came close to the boat and then it left without incident. The two sharks then reappeared 5 minutes later, given the sharks array of senses there is no doubt that the shark knew the seal was present (and vice versa) but chose not to attempt an attack. On another occasion a seal not only popped up in the chum line and swam to the boat but decided the tuna head on the bait line looked like quite a tempting free snack. The seal proceeded to attach itself to the tuna head and began to chew it!! Once again the seal left without incident despite there being sharks in the vicinity that we had been lucky enough to see on a regular basis. Who knows what amazing sights we will be privileged to on our next trip!! To book your trip, visit us on www.whitesharkprojects.co.za
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