Dead White Shark :(

Two days ago, we got word that a dead white shark had washed up on Dyer Island, which was very sad news.

Unfortunately, the first day was far too rough for Marine Dynamics' whale rescue team to go out and retrieve it on the first day. However, yesterday it was calm enough for the team of three boats and crew to go and fetch it.

I managed to get to the harbour just in time to see the crew and the boat Calypso coming in, towing the animal behind it between two inflatable buoys. There were lots of people at the harbour, including a couple of film crews! I was keen to see if the shark had an obvious cause of death, but there were no marks on him whatsoever, except the skin that had been rubbed off by the sand as it had washed up.

The shark was immediately taken by the South African government's marine scientists to go to Cape Town for dissection in a couple of weeks. Maybe then we will find out what caused the death of this beautiful creature.

Below is the picture of the shark (it is bloated due to decomposition) taken by Marine Dynamics skipper, Hennie Otto:

Marine Dynamics actually lost a lot of money in fuel and personnel charges retrieving it, which goes to show how much they care about the wildlife in this area. Wilfred Chivell, the founder of Marine Dynamics and Dyer Island Cruises, is clearly extremely passionate about these animals.

That is why, and please don't judge me too badly for promoting this company so blatantly, I would definitely recommend Marine Dynamics as a shark diving or whale-watching company. The money that is spent on your trip really does go towards marine conservation; these guys perform whale rescues, animal corpse retrieval for post-mortem analysis (an extremely important factor in conservation - if you have a dead animal, you need to find out what killed it to aid possible prevention of killing other members of the species in the future!), penguin housing placement on Dyer Island as well as education of the public about the area. I have witnessed first hand where this money goes, and can vouch for the company's positive actions towards conservation.

So, if you're considering coming on a shark diving tour/whale watching trip in South Africa (and I would really recommend it), I can honestly say Marine Dynamics is the best choice for a responsible eco-tourist.

p.s. I'm not getting paid by them!

Catch Up

Hi everyone! Sorry I haven't updated in a few days, it has been a very busy week!

So I've been on a couple of shark trips, one of which featured a cape fur seal swimming around the boat. I also went on a whale scouting trip with some of the whale scientists and skippers who work here, saw a couple of humpback whales and followed them for a good while. I love them! Saw a great deal of sea bird life, including the shy albatross, cape gannet

I also went out scouting for sharks on Lwazi (meaning 'knowledge' in the Xhosa language... one of the local languages of South Africa). Lwazi is a small research boat, so I got to do some crew-work which was fun (another thing for the C.V.!) and took a few fin pictures for I.D.

Last Thursday was the official gathering to celebrate the construction of a southern right whale skeleton in the great white house, which was brilliant, there were some fantastic presentations, along with an amazing time lapse video of it being constructed (by the amazing Anna).

There was free food and wine, which was really really tasty!

I've also been socialising a lot more with the volunteers and interns, who are a lovely bunch of people from the likes of Canada, USA, Switzerland and the UK. We had a night out to a bar called "Captain's Corner" which was one of my favourite nights out here so far!

Yesterday, we saw a southern right whale come extremely close to the boat, the sun was shining and it was just a lovely day in general. I helped to clean the boat after the trip and did some of the volunteer's work, as the majority were at Cape Augalas. Productive day!

I've also started 'project keep fit in Africa'; trying to eat as healthy as possible and go jogging and do some other exercises. Hopefully I will be able to maintain some good willpower and keep it up. I've been jogging two days in a row, and hope to go later (even though I went this morning)...

Later tonight, we're having a pasta night at Nicola's house, one of the marine biologists on the boat.

No sea day AGAIN :(

Oh dear, the weather is not our friend... although it appears sunny enough, there is a strong wind forecast for later on today, so the trip is cancelled. Not all is lost, though... it has given me the chance to catch up on inputting my data, and I can start to make some preliminary graphs to see what my data might look like.

Later Amy and I will be contributing our efforts towards the DARWIN database, a piece of software originally designed to help identify the fins of bottlenose dolphins, which are unique to each individual. Marine Dynamics are applying this software to the fin identification of white sharks, using photographs taken on the boat and then putting them into a database via the DARWIN software, which then maps out the shape of the fin. I'm really happy to be a part of this, as it's always good to get some new experience for your C.V!

I'm not sure what will be happening this evening, but it will probably involve getting another early night for the trip tomorrow (if there is one!).

p.s. I've just realised, I've been here a total of 2 weeks! Wow. That went extremely quickly... 7 weeks to go!

In the cage...

So today I actually ventured into the cage. Unfortunately the visibility was a lot worse, but there were a good few sharks, and I got extremely close to them! They become a whole new animal when you get in the cage with them; graceful and beautiful creatures, gliding through the water. When they go for the bait or decoy, they seem like aquatic acrobats, not too dissimilar to dolphins. When they glide past the cage - it really does feel like they are looking at you, with an almost curious look on their face.

When the time came to get out of the cage, however, it began to get more scary. The sharks became excitable around the bait, and one was hurtling towards me with its mouth open. A formidable sight, its jaws projected forwards, I understood why some treat cage diving as an adrenaline sport! As a second shark went for the bait, its nose actually came into the cage in front of me, but at this point I had not got a mask on and wasn't submerged, which really got my heart racing!

Unfortunately I didn't manage to get any data due to heavy rain. If I had stood on the top deck where I'm supposed to stand (in accordance with my project's methodology), the recording sheet would have been absolutely soaked. 'Cheating' and standing downstairs was also not an option due to the amount of people crowding around the shark cage. I can't really ask them to move as they are paying guests, so I couldn't see a thing! Never mind, I've got more data than I expected to have by this point anyway, I just hope there aren't too many more no sea days/rainy days.

I can't wait to go into the cage again! Hopefully I'll manage to catch a day where the visibility is even better.

Amazing Visibility!

This morning, whilst doing the washing up, I managed to impale my hand on an upturned knife in the drying rack... blood everywhere! Luckily it didn't hurt too much, and I eventually stemmed the blood to put a plaster on, which soon was also soaked. Whoops!

Another early trip, and the sun was shining lovely. As we pulled up to the diving spot, I could once again see the bottom. Absolutely stunning, and we were at a depth of 10m. This kind of visibility is amazing for the divers and for observing the sharks, but it seems to make them aggregate more. This means when you try to follow one or two individuals, you end up getting really lost and it is almost impossible to follow some of them who don't have distinctive marks on them!

I'm currently sat out in the sun with a hot chocolate talking to a girl called Ingrid from Cape Town, she's going to be with us for a while as she's on her Uni holidays doing some work for Michelle, one of the main researchers here at Marine Dynamics. In about an hour, we'll all be going out whale watching! Hopefully we'll see some nice ones, as I didn't actually spot any this morning.

Tomorrow I'm planning on going in the cage, diving with the sharks! I wish I had an underwater camera, but never mind. Hoping the visibility will be just as amazing as it was today!

Whale of a time!

Excuse the awful pun, but today I saw a total of 3 southern white whales, and one humpback! A wonderful start to the whale season! Sharks are very active and impressive, but I love how beautiful whales are, and how slowly they seem to move. I really wish I had my camera with me!

The first trip was very early, and absolutely freezing, although the sun soon came up and made for another wonderful day. I managed to get some good data on a couple of returning sharks; one with a strange lump on its side, most possibly a badly healed wound, and another shark with a large hook in its mouth, trailing a fisherman's lure to the side of it. Visibility in the water was lovely, and Amy got some lovely footage on her go-pro camera (an underwater video recorder).

After two trips, I was absolutely exhausted, and went home, had tea then went straight to bed at about 7.30pm! Mostly because I was absolutely freezing and this was the best way to warm up.

Dissolved Face!

So Prometheus wasn't as good as we thought, although it was visually stunning. Despite not being particularly enthralled by the film, I was amazed about was the sizes and prices of the food and drink! I ordered a medium popcorn and drink £3 total! The drink was of expected size, but the popcorn was far bigger than I imagined! Unfortunately they only do salted popcorn, which isn't my favourite, but they do have different flavoured powder that you sprinkle on! I chose salt and vinegar - lovely tasting, but after a while of eating, powdered acetic acid tends to start dissolving your lips and tongue, which is painful.

ANOTHER no sail day, which is disappointing, although apparently tomorrow there are two trips lined up. The weather has picked up today, and the rain is holding off in favour of the sun. Hopefully tomorrow I'll get some good data!