GREAT WHITE SHARK - CAGE DIVING IN GANSBAAI, HERMANUS, SOUTH AFRICA

Great White Shark cage diving, as a major tourist activity, is only legally allowed in 2 places on the planet – South Africa and Australia, with each country protecting this incredible species for over 15 years. In South Africa there are 3 places to dive – Seal Island off Cape Town, where there are 2 licenses; Mossel Bay where there is 1 license and the major area of Gansbaai / Kleinbaai / Hermanus, where there are 8 licenses. 

Great White Sharks inhabit the coastlines of 85 different countries and other major colonies are to be found in New Zealand, Hawaii and California.

There are 450 different species of sharks, which also include rays; the normal shark species that we all associate with having dorsal fins being 250 species, of which 100 of these species inhabit South African waters, including Thresher, Ragged Tooth, Hammerhead, Blues, Zambezi and Makos. 

A Great White Shark’s main food is blubber, which it mainly obtains from seals and whales and that is why there are so many Great White Sharks off Gansbaai, as on Dyer Island there are over 60,000 Cape Fur Seals (the sharks larder) living there. Over the last 5 years, marine scientists have counted over 1,200 different Great White Sharks at Dyer Island.

There are 4 more dangerous species of sharks to mankind than Great White Sharks, they are - Tiger Shark and Bull Sharks as they eat turtles which are crunchy, so are humans; Hammerheads and Makos.

A Shark has no skeleton and its endo-skeleton is made out of cartilage. Two thirds of a sharks brain is dedicated to its most powerful sense – smell, hence the use of chum to attract them to the cage diving boats.

Cage Diving is extremely safe and over the last 15 years that Great White Shark cage diving has been operating at Dyer Island, there have been many famous celebrities jumping into cages. Including - Prince Harry, Brad Pitt, (who did 3 days of shark diving over 10 days and stayed at the Marine Hotel, Hermanus); The King of Jordan has been here twice; Michael Schumacher, Steffi Graff, Sting, John Lydon (lead singer of Sex Pistols), Colin Farrell, Christopher Lambert, Robbie Williams, Jamiroquai, Nicolas Cage, Richard E. Grant, Ruby Wax, Colin Jackson (gold medal hurdlist), Monica Seles, Cameron Diaz, Justin Timberlake, Mark Shuttleworth, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jude Law, as well as every single animal documentary film company – BBC, Discovery, Animal Planet, National geographic and David Attenborough.

A year ago a 3.5 meter Great White Shark female was satellite tagged at Dyer Island nicknamed Nicole, she swam to the western coast of Australia and back again in 99 days, a total distance 22,000 kms.

Great White Shark diving is a fabulous experience and they are not the vicious frenzied man killers that the media betrays.

 

 

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