I took part in a shark safari organized by shark conservationist Rob Allen.
The diving in South Africa was superb. We spent the first week in Umkomas just south of Durban. We dived with a local operator "Sea Fever" on the Aliwal shoal and had two adrenaline pumping dives with black tip and tiger sharks. This was a no cage dive with the sharks milling all around us. Being checked out by 2m to 4m length sharks at close range is something I will never forget!
Tiger Sharks are considered to be one of the most dangerous sharks in the world, but there have been no incidents in the shark dives arranged off Umkomas. The water was chummed with an evil smelling concoction of rotten fish blood and guts from a container anchored to the sea floor. A fish head was suspended at the surface from a small buoy as a way to let us know when the sharks had arrived. A washing machine drum laden with dead fish was then suspended from a buoy. We drifted at 8-10m depth arranged in a semicircle around the drum. Our guide "Clinton" watched us carefully to ensure sure we followed the safety rules set out in the detailed briefing.
For the second week we drove south across the Transkei to Port St.Johns for the sardine run. We got to snorkel and scuba with bait balls together with criss crossing dolphins and sharks, with gannets diving in from above. The icing on the cake were the hump backed whales on a migratory course northwards along the coast. We also got to see a sun fish, manta rays and bottle nosed dolphins. I decided to drop off the boat for some solo snorkelling during a quiet spell and found myself the target for a couple of bronze whaler sharks. Luckily they soon lost interest! Rob wrote a more detailed account of the week in his blog for the 2007 Sardine Run.
It was very challenging to take photos of rapidly moving action in low light conditions with a basic compact camera (Canon S60) and a wide angle INON lens (100 degree field of view). On Rob's suggestion, I set the exposure time to 1/100th second with ISO 200 and manual white balance adjustment. The shutter lag was particularly frustrating for fast moving subjects. I found out the hard way that wet mount lens systems have a tendency to form salt crystals and that you need to keep some fresh water handy to avoid this. I have still a lot to learn and look forward to some better equipment for future trips.
I experimented with taking some video of the tiger shark dives using the S60 camera and note that it is very difficult to know when it is recording or not. I was able to splice several short sequences and convert to flash video using the Linux mencoder and ffmpeg command line tools. Click below to view the results:
The full sized video is 35Mb long and lasts for about a minute and a half. It is best downloaded and run locally in full screen mode.
Umkomas river mouth: we launched from the farside bank and then carefully made our way out to sea through the surf which was pretty exciting!
Rob Allen together with Mark Addison (Sea Fever)
Photographing a ragged tooth shark on the Aliwal shoal
View of a raggie (aka sand tiger shark) from above
Rob photographing one of the many raggies we found resting in "Cathedral" on Aliwal shoal
Sunny shot of fish on the wreck of the "Produce"
Wide angle view of the wreck of the "Produce"
Divers on the wreck of the "Produce"
Rob holding on to the Nebo wreck in a ripping current that drove our bubbles horizontal - we later found shelter behind the wreck
If we let go, will we end up in India?
Rob eyeing an octopus that was trying to pass itself off as a piece of wreckage
Our tiger shark dive guide and skipper fishing while we wait for the sharks to appear
There were a lot of black tip sharks, which were very fast and came up real close like inquisitive dogs
Libby Gawith snapping a passing black tip
Another black tip coming towards me just above head level
Black tip in front of a pair of divers
A black tip aiming for my feet
Rob's yum yum yellow fins attracting another customer
Yet another close encounter. The black tips were quite bold when they thought you weren't looking
There were two tigers on each dive. This one came close by as we both eyed one another carefully
My buddy Rob Allen, the intrepid explorer
Rob Allen photographing a tiger shark as it makes a pass by the drum
Our guide Clinton staring impassively at a passing tiger
Tiger attacking the washing machine drum
The tiger's found the washing machine drum difficult to get at and in frustration attacked the cable and buoy, sometimes entangling themselves in the process. The huge size of the tigers can be seen by comparison to the washing machne drum and the 2m black tips at the bottom of the picture
Our guide signalling that a tiger shark is behind you
Our guide pulling some food out of the drum to stir the shark's flagging interest
All good things come to an end: our guide telling us to ascend after the 60 minute timeout
Common dolphins checking us out in the dappled sunlight near the surface
Diver (Pete Plume) above baitball with dolphins below
Diver (Pete Plume) above baitball with large dusky(?) shark below
The dolphins worked together to control the bait ball, using bubbles to bring the sardines nearer to the surface. After a period of inactivity, the dophins suddenly rush in from all sides whizzing through at a rapid pace.
A bronze whaler (aka copper) shark swimming below me, slightly spoiled by salt crystals on lens surfaces
A cape fur seal sunning itself on its back
A cape fur seal during a dive
Me diving, taken by Rob Allen
My buddy Rob Allen with some fancy camera gear
I snapped a few photos of the bronze whaler sharks that came up to investigate me as a potential meal when I was doing some solo snorkeling. The low viz makes the shark look much further away, but it was actually rather close (100 degree field of view) and I felt quite exposed!
Following a pair of hump backed whales on their northern migration
The view from the river on the way back from the sea at Port St.Johns.
Back row: Mike, Libby, Pete, Dave (me), Lisa, Front row: Shera, Michelle and Rob
Dave Raggett, June/July 2007.