Cape Town is only a two-hour flight from Durban but it’s a world away in terms of climate. Only a few short days ago in Umkomaas on the East African coast, we were able to bask in the sunshine between dives, but on the southern tip of the continent, the warmth comes from more artificial means as coats and woolly hats are dragged from the depths of our rucksacks and hastily pulled over our shivering bodies.
Of course not everyone dislikes the cold. The world’s most efficient killing machine absolutely loves cooler water and it’s him that we’ve come here to meet. The Great White Shark is an animal with a formidable – although some would say unjustified – reputation, and when you see him up close it’s easy to understand why. The sheer bulk defies belief, and Durban’s Bull Sharks pale into insignificance in the presence of the planet’s undisputed apex predator.
Our journey begins in Gansbaai, a small fishing port 160 kilometres east of Cape Town, with six bleary-eyed, weather-beaten divers staring at a cold, grey sea and a rather small boat with a steel cage roped to the back.
Twenty minutes later, seven kilometres out at sea in a rolling swell, the crew prise the lid off a foul-smelling container and start pouring buckets of chum into the water. Next, a collection of fish heads and shark’s entrails is attached to a rope and thrown overboard. This delicious soup works a treat and within a few minutes the first huge fin breaks the surface and commences a lazy circle of the boat. This, you would think, would be an excellent time to turn the boat around and head back to the shore. But no. With much crashing of steel and heaving of ropes the cage is lowered into the water and we are advised to change into wetsuits.
Climbing into wet dive gear in a pitching boat accompanied by the combined aromas of diesel fumes and dead fish really sets you up for the day, especially when the agenda includes getting as close as possible to one of the largest sets of teeth in the animal kingdom. As I stood at the boat’s gunwhale waiting for a very large shark to cruise past before I climbed over the side, the immortal words of Richard Dreyfus popped into my head ‘I think we’re going to need a bigger boat’.
Dropping over the side into the cage, I was immediately struck by the silence. I peered out into the clear green water.
Nothing.
Then to my right, at the limit of visibility a dark shadow started to harden into shape. With effortless grace, a Great White the size of a car moved in on the chum line hanging a metre of so in front of my face. There was a sudden blur of action, a lot of white water and a huge crash as the shark went for the bait and inadvertently bashed the cage up against the boat. The scenario was repeated throughout the morning as we were joined by a number of different sharks of various sizes, the largest being about five metres in length. At one point we had three large Great Whites circling the boat.
There’s some controversy over cage diving tourism in South Africa. Some say that anything that changes the natural behaviour of animals is wrong. My perspective is that anything that helps educate people about the plight of the Great White is a good thing. Ninety million sharks are killed by humans every year, and many species – the Great White included – are now seriously endangered. Allowing people to experience the majesty of these animals in their own environment is a great way to spread awareness and encourage conservation. If the resulting interest means that we’re going to need a bigger boat, that’s surely a good thing.