*W.S.C.D.- Ocean Adventure Safari Extreme*

Why do the Sharks Attack?

As predators at the top of the ocean food chain, sharks are designed to hunt and eat large amounts of meat. A shark’s diet consists of other sea creatures – mainly fish, sea turtles, whales, and sea lions and seals. Humans are not on the menu. In fact, humans don’t provide enough high-fat meat for sharks, which need a lot of energy to power their large, muscular bodies. If sharks aren’t interested in eating humans, why do they attack us? The first clue comes in the pattern that most shark attacks take. In the majority of recorded attacks, the shark bites the victim, hangs on for a few seconds (possibly dragging the victim through the water or under the surface), and then let’s go. It is very rare for a shark to make repeated attacks and actually feed on a human victim. The shark is simply mistaking a human for something it usually eats. Once the shark gets a taste, it realizes that this isn’t its usual food, and it lets go.

To a shark, a surfer paddling on a surfboard can look a lot like its typical prey.

 The shark’s confusion is easier to understand once we start to look at things from the shark’s point of view. Many attack victims are surfers or people riding boogie boards. A shark swimming below sees a roughly oval shape with arms and legs dangling off, paddling along. This bears a close resemblance to a sea lion (the main prey of great white sharks) or a sea turtle (a common food for big tiger sharks).

Carcharodon carcharias (Greek)

AS HUNTING…

…SEA LION PREY…

…THE ATTACK STARTS AT THE BLIND ANGLE OF THE SEA LION EYE…

…USUALLY ABOUT 20 – 25 METERS UNDER WATER’S SURFACE …

…AND ENDS WITH JUMPING OUT AND SNAPPING THE PREY.

Although shark attacks can seem vicious and brutal, it’s important to remember that sharks aren’t evil creatures constantly on the lookout for humans to attack. They are animals obeying their instincts, like all other animals.

But consider that this amazing and one of this planet most majestic creatures are critically endangered. Also, like all kind of sharks they never get cancer!

How do they perceive their prey?

With their Ampullae of Lorenzini sense forming a network of jelly-filled pores, Sharks can track down/detect electric and temperature fields in the water. Everything that makes noise, metallic noise, flounders e.g. sick fish, dead whales floating (or bleeding fish) or something plops in and at the surface of the water can attract them like a magnet from miles away.

Why Great White Sharks cannot be kept in captivity?

(NO AQUARIUM SIGHTSEEING)

All methods tried by scientists and biologists to keep them into captivity failed up to date. There are countless theories as to why Great White Sharks have not yet been successfully bred and kept in captivity.

Some of the theories are:

They are open water fish and cannot be confined. Tagged sharks have been known to swim hundreds of kilometers within a matter of days. This exercise and freedom are essential to their contentment.

They get depressed in captivity. Great White Sharks that are kept within tanks have been known to head butt their noses into the glass walls and lose their appetites. It has also been noted that they get increasingly aggressive in their depressed state.

REVOLVING DENTITION

 Great White Sharks are incredibly expensive to keep as they kill and eat all other creatures in their tanks. Aquariums would have to continuously restock a tank or dedicate an extremely large tank for the sharks to solely live (impossible as a tank would have to be kilometers long).

They refuse to be fed by humans, leading them to either die of starvation or be released into the wild. As predators, great white sharks are natural hunters and need the thrill of the hunt to survive – they will not survive on already dead small fish.

Many people believe that sharks become depressed and even die in captivity due to aquariums using incorrect water solutions, without enough saline. As Great White Sharks are saltwater species, it’s absolutely crucial that the correct balance is maintained.

Great White Sharks are a logistical nightmare for aquariums; not only do they have to capture them safely but they have to transport them and relocate them into a tank, all the while keeping them in water.

Due to their size and aggressive disposition, great white sharks are incredibly hard to handle – most people would rather not go through the hassle and dangers of coming into contact with them, especially as keeping them content and alive in captivity is so difficult.

ABOUT VIDEO (EXAMPLE)

While approaching the SPOT…

In the full day tour and while the journey to the hot spot continues you can feel the fear and excitement in the air as almost all the people in the group try to distract themselves from what lies ahead, while all try hard not to have flashbacks from those infamous scenes from Jaws or any other similar movie. After arriving and some instructions about how to enter the cage and what to do once you are in there, your heart is pumping so fast you wonder if it will explode and that’s even before there are any sharks around. The cage is the only thing between you and the oceans most feared predator. In fact, cage diving with Great White Sharks is terrifying, exhilarating and inspiring the most of the divers in the shark cage. But to be scared is absolutely normal and probably sums up best how the visitors feel the first time when they come face-to-face with the worlds most feared predator.

When it’s time to enter the cage, the crew give you a mouthpiece to breathe in the case as you don’t have tanks if it is a surface cage only about a foot under the water. You don’t need any diving experience to go shark cage diving, as often this is peoples first real underwater wildlife experience. Talk about jumping in the deep end (excuse the pun)! Everyone feels exactly the same as they prepare to enter the cage. They are nervous, they are excited, their heart is pumping, they are breathing erratically and once you are in the cage your heart is racing even faster!

Great Whites can grow up to six-seven meters long.

***Circling the cage***

Then comes the moment when there is an enormous great white shark in front of you and you can hear your breathing is so fast, you know your eyes are bulging because everyone else’s is, and you’re hanging onto the cage for your life with your knuckles white. But then somehow your mindset changes when you experience how majestic these beautiful animals really are.

It really is one of those great once in a lifetime experiences. The good thing about it is the cage, you really would not want to be there without it. As much as the sharks are not hungry and just appear to be looking around, they are awesome creatures of the sea and it’s an incredible opportunity to be able to see them in their own environment. One thing that will stick with you each and every time is their black eyes penetrating you no matter which direction they are swimming, it always feels like they are staring right through you.

  Cameras, both underwater and regular, are a “must-bring” on this journey as the action from the bridge and flight deck as well as within the water is fantastic!

Being very curious by nature!

Depending on the day and the operators you will spend around e.g. 45 minutes in the cage with 5 or 6 other people and you can also view them from up on deck. Some passengers choose to do the full day cruise and not enter the cage at all. Everyone is petrified before, but after this bucket list experience, they are left with incredible memories and stories to share for an entire lifetime!

Our recommendation = just do it!

Here are some additional, interesting details about them:

WS ANATOMY

For additional info about

White Shark Cage Diving in

 Gansbaai South Africa you may visit:

ABOUT VIDEO (EXAMPLE)

FOR MORE INSIDER INFO ABOUT SHARKS, YOU MAY VISIT:

ELASMODIVER

SHARK EXPLORERS

SHARKDIVINGEXPERTS

SHARK SCHOOL

FACTS VIDEO (EXAMPLE)

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