What an amazing day February 2nd was. I’ll take you through the pictures below and explain the chronology that way.
I tagged along with Steve Benjamin (Animal Ocean) on a dive charter to dive with a natural aggregation of seven-gill sharks, or cowsharks (as they’re called in Cape Town) just past Miller’s Point near Simons Town. It’s an unbelievable spot, as the cowsharks are gathered there in significant numbers and they’re VERY curious… not at all shy of divers. It was fantastic! We had at least 7 sharks around us at any one time, and we reckon we saw about 20 total.
Image Copyright Sjimon de waal
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After the cowsharks, we stopped at the boat ramp at Millers Point to see the snoek boats coming in. The picture below is of a man counting the snoeks as he tosses them in a bucky to be carried to market.
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A fisherman counts the snoek he and his team caught this morning.
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Then we stopped by Muizenburg beach, and were just in time to see the Treknet fishermen bringing in a fresh catch of yellowtail kingfish! This type of fishing is a bit different from your average industrial trawler or purse-seiner…the whole community gets out on the beach to help pitch the nets. It was fun to watch. Does anyone know any more about this type of fishing, how impactful it is and how long it’s been in practice? I’m having difficulty finding information on it, even locally.
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Treknet Fishermen sorting their catch.
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We left Muizenburg Beach and drove up Boyes Drive to the overlook of Muizenburg in False Bay. From there, you can see Seal Island (remember that AWESOME series in Planet Earth that shows great white sharks breaching? That’s Seal Island), as well as the entire stretch of Muizenberg Beach. To our unbelievable luck, the Shark Spotter on duty, (her name is Vivian) spotted a great white just moments after we arrived!
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Vivian, a spotter for Shark Spotters
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It was unbelievable. I’ve shown the picture below fully scaled out and then zoomed in to give you an idea of perspective – the shark was about 2.5m-3m long. The Shark Spotter program is a wonderful alternative to shark nets (which can be found all along the eastern beaches of South Africa, in Durban). Shark nets “work” because they kill everything in their path, shark and fish and dolphin and seal alike. The Shark Spotter program works, and eliminates the unnecessary slaughter that shark nets unleash.
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Great White shark on Muizenburg Beach, zoomed out
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Great White shark on Muizenburg Beach, zoomed in
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And that was (most of) our day! It was banner. The days have been packed, and I’m still catching up – more to come.
