South Africa Spring Journal – False Bay
We clearly saved the best of our South African adventure for last as we hooked up with our good friends Chris and Monique Fallows for a beautiful day on False Bay aboard the White Pointer 2. Chris and Monique are the owners of Apex Shark Expeditions and are among the world's most experienced naturalists in observing the behavior of Great White Sharks having observed and recorded more than 6000 natural predation attempts by sharks on the Cape Fur seals.
White Sharks frequent Seal Island during the South African winter months feeding on the smaller seals that were pupped earlier in the year. Generally in early September the sharks move away from the island and begin to feed elsewhere as spring approaches. That said, luck was with us on this day as flat calm conditions and spectacular activity from the entire food web were evident right from the first rays of light of the day. On this day we witnessed approximately 2000 common dolphins gorging on anchovies even as hundreds of Cape Gannets, kelp gulls and terns swooped in for their share from above. Throw in some feeding Southern Right whales a humpback and some fantatstic white shark action and you have a very special day indeed.
Cape Fur seal Sunrise at the Launching Pad The return of Megladon_ No... a Southern Right Whale fluke Close Encounter of the Southern Right Whale kind! A pair of Southern Right Whales took a break from their feasting on anchovies and approached us! Cape Gannets were going crazy feeding Unfortunate seal tangled in fishing gear A 4 meter shark approaches - note the white scar on its snout. Chris and Monique had a VIP on board - Ed the bear Seals wait to gather into groups before leaving the island for hunting to avoid predation from white sharks
Check out this video of the adrenaline filled encounter John had with a 12 foot white shark from the cage on the White Pointer 2.
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