In the last few days Ive visited The Cape of Good Hope, West Coast National Park, and had a nice walk on top of Table Mountain. The last is one of the new 7 Natural Wonders of the World. Though Im not sure I agree with that designation there is quite a beautiful view in all directions from the crest. It also has a sweet cable car ride up to the top. To be truthful theres really only one reason I came to Cape Town though. Great white shark cage diving. I wont go into the whole back story but suffice to say its been at or near the top of my list, depending on how you look at it, for many many years. This is the reason I had to rearrange my schedule, including a flight, once already here. I was due to go diving on Friday but it was canceled because of rough conditions. Everyone was booked solid over the weekend. Its also the reason Id said delaying the trip would have been near impossible. This is the tail end of the peak season for cage diving in nearby False Bay. I mentioned it to almost no one to make it a cool surprise as well as to not jinx it. I chose False Bay because its not only one of the best places in the world to go cage diving but its also the only place in the world where white sharks breach while hunting seals. At times they launch themselves completely out of the water. The few companies that are allowed to cage dive there tow a fake seal behind the boats to entice the sharks to breach once the natural hunting quiets down. With shivers of excitement and from the predawn breeze we pulled away from the wharf. After about 25 minutes we approached Seal Island. It has 60 to 70 thousand northern fur seals on it at this time of year. Right away the action started. The was a predation off to the right of the boat. A shark was consuming what was left of a seal. The water was dark as the sun wasnt due to rise for almost an hour. We didnt get too close so all you could see was the sharks tail and dorsal fin along with dozens of birds looking for scraps. We continued to buzz back and forth watching or anticipating more predations. The action was nearly continuous. We saw sharks lunge at seals repeatedly. There were few breaches and I didnt see any of them. While talking with one of the guides he yelled out and pointed behind me. In the distance a shark had come completely out of the water. Damn! Even after doing this for years the guides were as excited as we were. In all they said there were 22 predations near and far. Thats quite a high number. Especially considering they saw zero the day before. Eventually things calmed down. The sun had risen. Thats when the seals can see the sharks better and the hunting activity slows down. We towed the decoy around for a while with everyones eyes and cameras trained on it. With all the action expectations were sky high. Nothing happened though. That was pretty disappointing as seeing, let alone photographing, a breach was such a huge draw. Finally the cage went into the water and the chumming began. I would be in the second group to enter the cage. That was fine by me as I wanted to take some photos from the top deck before getting into a wetsuit and sticky with salt water. The chum slick stretched behind the boat and tuna heads were bobbing in the water. We waited a while and then a shark, or some sort of shadow, took one of the deeper heads and pulled it right off the rope. So we waited. It seemed crazy that just a little while before sharks were tearing up seals left and right. Now, nothing. We continued to wait. Surely it was only a matter of time. Another shadow drifted by and the first group got in the cage. We continued to wait. One of the three boats in the area had a shark on the surface right against their cage. We had patience. Shouts of joy and amazement could be heard from the other boat. That shark stayed with them for at least 20 minutes. Tension and frustration were building. I cant do this to myself anymore. Dragging it out only makes it more painful. Nothing else happened. Nothing! The crew tried. We moved around and chummed and waited for hours. I suppose with all the luck Ive had in all the places visited a swing and a miss was due. Not now though! This was one of two sites, two goals to meet on this trip and it fell completely flat. Id built in several days buffer to account for the unpredictable weather and then extended it because it was so important. I woke up in the middle of the night a few days ago and realized Id put all my eggs in Mondays basket. My new last day in Cape Town. Its a major regret now. It was almost inconceivable that once I made it out on False Bay at this time of year that sharks wouldnt show up. The crew said it was very rare for none to appear. My research said the same thing. I guess thats why it never seemed necessary to consider a second day. Im totally stunned. Pathetically inconsolable. I know Im beyond lucky, beyond blessed to be able to go where I do and see what I do. I know it called wildlife for a reason. Yes, they call it fishing not catching for a reason but F@$#/^&*()CK!!! Why didnt I add a second day? Cost got the better of me in truth. With all the cost and effort the ultimate goal was at best 5% complete. I wouldnt even say I really saw a shark. Certainly not eye to eye. All this and the fact that my rental car was broken into via a smashed window yesterday has me waving a white flag and ready for some new scenery. Nothing irreplaceable was stolen but it still sucked. Luckily the second goal has an abundance of time. Its going to take a long time for the sting of this one to go away. Until Im back and the mission is complete in fact. Am already working on that and more for the next southern Africa adventue. Until then the thorn remains in place.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Sep 2014 10:41:21 +0000
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