There are only a few things that are assured while spending a year on the road: The holidays will be a lonely time, US taxes still need to be paid, and another birthday will arrive. Instead of denying that she was adding another year to her age, Amy decided to celebrate like never before. She slipped on the tightest fitting little black number she could find, donned the latest in head wear and jumped feet first into a shark cage!! 
After seeing the movie Jaws, she was traumatized and afraid of the open water for years. Even though those fears are long ago and far away, Steve was shocked when she exclaimed that she’d like to revel in her birthday with a Great White Shark dive.
This was the first birthday Amy has commemorated in the summer. In February. For anyone that has a winter birthday in the Northern hemisphere, she highly recommends getting south of the equator to enjoy it in the summertime. Given that we were in South Africa in late February we welcomed the warm, humid weather on this special day.
We headed to Gansbaai (pronounced Hans Bay); home of Shark Alley. There are many Great White tour operators who take out the fearless into the cold waters for a close and personal encounter with these apex predators. We did our research and interviewed several tour operators -- How do they attract the sharks, their destination, the likelihood of seeing the sharks, how they protect them, etc… As always, we wanted to insure that our presence has minimal interference with their natural behavior and contributes to their preservation versus their demise. Satisfied that our tour operator does not “feed” the sharks, but rather attracts them with a tuna oil slick, we signed our life away with the standard….”You will not hold us responsible if you get chowed by this HUGE flesh eating fish!!!!!!!!”.
We chose a company that is actively involved with preservation efforts of these endangered animals. We headed out on an early cloudy morning to the notorious Shark Alley, an area in the Indian Ocean between two islands that is home to a large colony of fur seals…..the tasty snack of choice for our shark friends. Half an hour later, we drop anchor and the cage is lowered into the chilly dark waters. A few minutes after the tuna oil is ladled onto the water someone yelled “Did you see what I just saw?!?” Before any of us were in the cage, a few of the stealthy creatures from the deep showed up. These are VERY LARGE fish. Bigger then the pictures suggest.
Shark cage diving is a bit of a misnomer. It is actually cage bobbing. No scuba equipment is required, not even a snorkel. Six people get into the cage at a time and take a deep breaths and duck under the water at the direction of the shark spotter. He tells us to look left, right, or downward as appropriate as the sharks swim by. The gray carnivores are chasing a tuna head on a rope that is pulled through the water. It is not allowed to let them eat the bait, but rather just play a game of keep away. On our special day the water visibility was somewhat poor. Even so, we were prepared with a rented digital underwater camera.
The first six brave souls enter the cage. We watch from the boat as these agile beings repeatedly attack the tuna temptation. We even see a few breach the water with their classic attack from below. It is a show of amazing strength.
Our turn. We slide into the cage and feel our wetsuits fill up with freezing cold water. Before we have a chance to think about how cold we are, we hear…“Look to the right”. We take a deep breath, duck underwater, and watch as a 10 foot plus creature of the dark swims by the cage. Holy moly…..we could have reached out and touched it. Thankfully, all of our extremities were safely tucked inside the cage. “Look below!” As we duck for the second time we see one gliding underneath us. The adrenalin kicked in, the excitement is crescendoing and the freezing water temperature is long forgotten. We are totally focused on seeing every detail.
We watch 7 or 8 magnificent great whites, brimming with confidence and grace, and seemingly uninterested in the human meals in the cage. They glance at us a few times but have their black eyes on the ‘chicken of the sea’ enticement.
It was time to share the fun with our shipmates, so we watch and cheer as the next set of bobbers enjoy their experience. A bit later, we eagerly accept a second chance to enter the cage and again observe in amazement at these supple pelagic beasts. Amy may have been the oldest woman on the boat but her shrieks of joy are the giddiest and loudest. It was an unforgettable ‘summer in February’ birthday!
After seeing the movie Jaws, she was traumatized and afraid of the open water for years. Even though those fears are long ago and far away, Steve was shocked when she exclaimed that she’d like to revel in her birthday with a Great White Shark dive.
This was the first birthday Amy has commemorated in the summer. In February. For anyone that has a winter birthday in the Northern hemisphere, she highly recommends getting south of the equator to enjoy it in the summertime. Given that we were in South Africa in late February we welcomed the warm, humid weather on this special day.
We headed to Gansbaai (pronounced Hans Bay); home of Shark Alley. There are many Great White tour operators who take out the fearless into the cold waters for a close and personal encounter with these apex predators. We did our research and interviewed several tour operators -- How do they attract the sharks, their destination, the likelihood of seeing the sharks, how they protect them, etc… As always, we wanted to insure that our presence has minimal interference with their natural behavior and contributes to their preservation versus their demise. Satisfied that our tour operator does not “feed” the sharks, but rather attracts them with a tuna oil slick, we signed our life away with the standard….”You will not hold us responsible if you get chowed by this HUGE flesh eating fish!!!!!!!!”.
We chose a company that is actively involved with preservation efforts of these endangered animals. We headed out on an early cloudy morning to the notorious Shark Alley, an area in the Indian Ocean between two islands that is home to a large colony of fur seals…..the tasty snack of choice for our shark friends. Half an hour later, we drop anchor and the cage is lowered into the chilly dark waters. A few minutes after the tuna oil is ladled onto the water someone yelled “Did you see what I just saw?!?” Before any of us were in the cage, a few of the stealthy creatures from the deep showed up. These are VERY LARGE fish. Bigger then the pictures suggest.
Shark cage diving is a bit of a misnomer. It is actually cage bobbing. No scuba equipment is required, not even a snorkel. Six people get into the cage at a time and take a deep breaths and duck under the water at the direction of the shark spotter. He tells us to look left, right, or downward as appropriate as the sharks swim by. The gray carnivores are chasing a tuna head on a rope that is pulled through the water. It is not allowed to let them eat the bait, but rather just play a game of keep away. On our special day the water visibility was somewhat poor. Even so, we were prepared with a rented digital underwater camera.
The first six brave souls enter the cage. We watch from the boat as these agile beings repeatedly attack the tuna temptation. We even see a few breach the water with their classic attack from below. It is a show of amazing strength.
Our turn. We slide into the cage and feel our wetsuits fill up with freezing cold water. Before we have a chance to think about how cold we are, we hear…“Look to the right”. We take a deep breath, duck underwater, and watch as a 10 foot plus creature of the dark swims by the cage. Holy moly…..we could have reached out and touched it. Thankfully, all of our extremities were safely tucked inside the cage. “Look below!” As we duck for the second time we see one gliding underneath us. The adrenalin kicked in, the excitement is crescendoing and the freezing water temperature is long forgotten. We are totally focused on seeing every detail.
We watch 7 or 8 magnificent great whites, brimming with confidence and grace, and seemingly uninterested in the human meals in the cage. They glance at us a few times but have their black eyes on the ‘chicken of the sea’ enticement.
It was time to share the fun with our shipmates, so we watch and cheer as the next set of bobbers enjoy their experience. A bit later, we eagerly accept a second chance to enter the cage and again observe in amazement at these supple pelagic beasts. Amy may have been the oldest woman on the boat but her shrieks of joy are the giddiest and loudest. It was an unforgettable ‘summer in February’ birthday!
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You guys are crazy! Andrea
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