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In August and September I spent a full month in Gansbaai, South Africa, working up close and personal with one of the greatest and most impressive predatory animals on the planet: the amazing great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias). Ever since the movie Jaws sent shivers down many spines, this animal has been maligned, severely demonised and heavily prosecuted by mankind. But being close to these animals every day, I quickly found out that the great white does not deserve its often monstrous and diabolical reputation. Sure, sharks are fierce predators, equipped with powerful jaws, razorsharp teeth and perfectly tuned senses, but they need to be keen hunters to survive as predatory fish in an often hostile and challenging natural environment. But great whites are also very inquisitive, gracious, picky and often very calm creatures instead of voracious monsterfish that indiscriminately eat everything that happens to pop up in front of their impressive jaws. Humans are in fact rarely seen as suitable prey items. Working with these animals virtually every day was a huge privilege and equalled the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. If you are interested in exploring the fascinating world of the great white too, then you should read the stories below and maybe consider joining the volunteer programme of White Shark Projects in the future. And if you would love to plunge into the deep, but still feel restraints of some kind: break the boundaries of your fear and live the dream. Life is to short to remain enchained by fear of the unknown, a false sense of security or the dictatorship of convention.

31 August 2010
A great day on the Atlantic today. A very calm sea and a lot of spectacular shark action. We moved from Dyer Island and Geldsteen Reef down into the shallows near Joubert’s Dam for the first time this winter. And it definitely paid off. During the morning trip seven different sharks were spotted near the boat and most of them stayed around for quite a while, inquisitively checking out the bait. A small male especially showed off his feisty nature and went for the bait vigorously quite a few times. This shark, together with a big, 3 meter plus female, showed great interest in the treats that were offered to him. Both sharks returned to the boat during the second trip of the day, a trip that will probably not easy be forgotten by the people who were on board on this very special afternoon. The star of the day was a huge and bulky 3.3 meter female, quite easily recognizable because of the white spot on the tip of her nose and some old scars on the back of her head. This shark really gave away a formidable show! Multiple bait attempts and a couple of (3-4) spectacular breaches really awed the clients, volunteers and crew members on the boat. And to put the icing on the natural cake she also took the bait twice, forcing Mandla to loosen his grip in order to avoid an involuntary dip in the quite cool (12 degrees) waters of the South African Atlantic. Quite obviously everyone returned to Kleinbaai harbor with a feeling of true satisfaction, a bag full of memories and a lot of hardy stories to tell back home.

2 September 2010
The shark action has really gotten into gear the past couple of days and today was no exception. The feisty, breeching female from 2 days ago showed herself again and went for the bait in spectacular fashion several times. Besides her, we saw seven more magnificent great whites during the morning, some of them very inquisitive and lively around the boat. The sharks during the afternoon trip were a little calmer, but most of them stayed around for quite a while. At times there were literally two or three sharks circling the boat, often crossing inches apart from each other. It’s always interesting to see that the smaller shark mostly backs away when a bigger shark enriches the crew and clients with its awesome presence. After a decent August month, that was however troubled by a few nasty storms, September certainly got off to a great start.

5 September 2010
Another great day at the office. It took a while for the sharks to turn up during our morning trip, but eventually some very inquisitive and active sharks appeared, really delivering the stuff right in front of the cage. Especially the kids on board of the Shark Team had the time of their life, seeing the apex predator of the South African seas in action from up close. The sea was nice and calm, unlike yesterday when the sea was choppy and the ride out to Joubert’s Dam quite bumpy. We had no clients in the afternoon, but still went out for a volunteer exclusive. And what a trip it turned out to be! Seven sharks visited the cage, amongst them two, three meter plus females. What an awesome experience to look such formidable creatures straight in the eye. One shark even decided to check out my side of the cage, giving the cage a gentle bite a couple of inches away from my hands. Multiple bait attempts even further enhanced the experience. There was so much going on that there was literally virtually no time to come up for a breath of air. The by now familiar words ‘down’, ‘down left’, ‘down right’ and ‘stay down’ kept echoing around the boat. Generally, the shark action seems to be very good around Joubert’s Dam at the moment. A promising foresight for the upcoming day and the rest of the month.

12 September 2010
The dreaded moment has finally arrived: my last day amongst the magnificent great white sharks of Gansbaai. But what a fine last trip it turned out to be. Some beautiful sharks and a couple of fabulous displays of shark behavior. My last trip ended on a high note, when a very feisty shark grabbed the bait only a couple of inches from the cage and the boat. She even said goodbye with a big slap from her tail, leaving David (our marine biologist) and me covered in a wet and salty cloud of ocean spray. Luckily, David managed to get some good pictures of various dorsal fins today, very important information for research purposes. Saying goodbye to South Africa, the many inspiring people I met during my stay in Gansbaai and of course to the stunningly beautiful great whites was not easy. In the end the experience even superseded the already high expectations I had before I came to South Africa and highlighted – both on a personal and a collective level (as human beings) – the importance of shark conservation and the protection of all the pristine ecosystems that planet earth still harbours. I would like to thank (in no specific order) all my fellow volunteers, Julia, Andreas, René, Charmaine, Andy, Jane, Gerald, Grant, Mandla, Maoli, Shaun, Abraham, Liz, David and all the other great people I met. Thanks for making me feel at home instantly and making all of this possible. Keep up the good work and hopefully we will meet again in the nearby future.

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