the blunt end

People focus so much on the sharp end of sharks that they loose sight of the amazing animals they are. I've always had mixed feelings about shark cage diving as there are a lot of operators out there who exploit these wonderful animals for their own profit. However, when it was suggested we go have a look at some sharks up close I contacted Shark Diving Unlimited in Gaansbaai, which is run by a family who are very involved in conservation and research of sharks around the world, but mostly the Great Whites of our Southern Coast.

The experience was incredible - as a surfer, I have a healthy fear of meeting one of these creatures in the water, where I am literally and figuratively quite out of my depth. I thought that after meeting some of these great whites personally I would be even more wary of venturing out, but the encounter had quite the opposite effect! We were fortunate in choosing a day with excellent conditions, 10m visibility, low swell, plenty of sunshine and sharks in abundance!

They are naturally curious fish, and since they have no hands with which to examine something they find interesting in the water, they use what they do have - their mouth. That it's full of sharp teeth is unfortunate for surfers (and seals, I suppose!). However, they don't grab a mouthful instantly, but rather swim up to the object they're interested in and nudge it with their nose before swimming off, coming around again and this time trying for a bite. Since humans - and neoprene - are not their dish of choice, they are, on the whole, not really interested in munching us. If they were, I imagine there would be a lot more incidents of shark attacks and far fewer surfers!


Blunt end of a great white after coming and enquiring as to who we were...

FYI, Muizenberg reportedly has the best shark attack prevention system in the world, thanks to the Shark Spotters network on the mountain - have a look at www.sharkspotters.org.za for more info.