Ed the Bear Comes Face to Face with Great White Sharks

Hi all

Here is my final instalment of my trip out to see great white sharks.

The sharks here at seal island are powerful predators but Chis and Monique showed me there was another side to the Great White Shark.

Monique said that when the sharks are not hunting their prey they have to slow down and conserve their energy, and this is the best way to see the Great White Shark as they gently cruise around the boat and interact with us on some level.

To attract the sharks to the boat, they put out the fake seal decoy and a piece of tuna. Monique and Chris said that sometimes the sharks decide to visit us. They do not come to the boat because they are hungry, but rather because they are very curious animals and they just want to find out what is going on!

Chris and Monique explained that they have identified many of the same sharks coming back year after year to Seal Island. In 2012 we recorded 2 male sharks , Cuz and Shy Guy, making their 10th year visit to Seal Island.

they told me that each shark has its very own character and personality, just like people do. Chris & Monique have come to know many of the sharks over the years and each time they see them, they behave in the same manner. For instance, Cuz, a 4 meter male grea white shark is very relaxed and curious around the boat.

Shy Guy, also a 4 meter male does not feel comfortable coming to the boat at all. Chris and Monique said they have observed him hunting seals for the past 10 years so we know at times he is at Seal Island. But, only once has he ever visited our boat!

I had hoped I would be able to go some cage dives so I could see the sharks underwater but I did not have my diving bell and I was a bit too small for the cage as I might get washed out through the holes. So I had to be happy just to see the sharks from the boat and to watch the other guests have the cage diving experience.

Even though I was very excited to see the sharks they knew I was disappointed not to be able to dive with them. Chris & Monique still wanted to give me a very close encounter so that I could see for myself that sharks are not interested in people (or Bears!), but only the prey items that they have evolved to feed on for hundreds of years.

So, I had the chance to take part in what the other guests called my 'daring encounters'

Firstly I took a ride on one of the fake seal decoy which they drifted behind the boat. Monique said the sharks were not hunting and that I would be perfectly safe.

A few of the sharks passed very close to me and I must admit I was more than a little nervous at first after seeing the sharks burst out of the sea with a shark decoy in their mouth.

But Monique was right the sharks swam about looking very relaxed (more than me) because they were no longer hunting so they were not in their hunting mode. After a while I became more relaxed and it was a great thrill to be so close to these amazing animals.

I did get a bit wet and when I returned to the boat they gave me a special dry down with a nice warm towel.

Afterwards I sat in the sun and enjoyed the view while I warmed up.

But I didn't get much time for a rest. Chris and Monique were keen for me to get an even closer encounter with the sharks.

They made a special seat on the end of a pole so I could be swung out over the sea. They held onto the end of the pole while I was hanging out over the water so I could watch from above as various sharks gently cruised by.

It was an amazing experience and Monique was pleased that I got to experience first hand the very calm and endearing side to the Great White Shark, but at the same time still have respect for what this predator is capable of when it needs to do “its job”. Every animal in nature has its place and it’s just for us to understand and respect.

During the morning we saw 9 different Great white sharks, which was fantastic. Monique said that no trip to Seal Island is complete without a special close up view of the 60,000 strong cape fur seal colony on Seal Island.

It was a perfectly flat calm day so Chris was able to take the boat very close to the Island for a very close view. Seal Island is made up of adult females and juvenile seals.

It was fun to watch the 6 months old pups playing in the safe water very close to the Island, as well as watching the interaction between these very social animals. They are just like dogs, even down to the fact that they also have fleas!

Seal Island is the largest island bound seal colony in Africa so it was a real highlight to see is close up
The day was not over yet and as we headed back to Simons Town we came across a school of 2000 common dolphin and about 500 cape gannets. It was a spectacular sight and Chris said it was the largest school of dolphin we have seen for a long time.

It was amazing to witness this amount of life and activity in False Bay. Great White sharks, Southern Right whales, common dolphin, cape fur seals and penguins all in one day! Wow, what a privilege.

So much happened in such a short time it has taken me a few days to write up my experiences.

Thank you Chris and Monique, and the rest of the crew, for giving me such as special day that I will never forget.

Bye for now
Ed the Bear

Ed Encounters Great White Sharks (continued)

Very soon we were heading to Seal Island, home of the famous Flying Great White Sharks that I had heard so much about. Of course I knew sharks can’t really fly but Seal Island is home to very special shark behaviour. I had seen whales leap (breach) out of the water before but this is a unique place where great white sharks breach out of the sea.

This spectacular sight of a nearly 1 ton shark launching itself out of the water is seen here at Seal Island on a very regular basis and Chris and Monique record up to 700 predatory events each year between April and September.The sharks are attracted to seal island because of the large number of seals present at this time of the year.

Monique said the sharks at Seal Island are also the largest average size sharks in South Africa and they can be 3.5 meters and many times bigger than this. The reason we see the larger sharks is that once Great whites get older their dentition (teeth) become broader which allows them to feed easier on seals. Seals have very thick blubber and this gives the sharks very good amounts of energy which means that it is a very valuable meal.


While the shark is a powerful predator it does not always manage to catch the seal it hunts.

Cape fur seals are fast, agile and acrobatic swimmers and often they use these skills to escape from the shark.

A breach takes places when a Great white shark is hunting a cape fur seal. Chris & Monique explained that when watching these events we have to have great respect for both the hunter (the great white shark) and the prey (the cape fur seal). Life is very challenging for both animals and as such we need to respect that both shark and seal are just trying to survive and it is best to observe these events as objectively as possible.

While some people might think of seals as being so cute that we should protect them from being eaten by shark, this is just nature. Monique reminded me of what she had told me about the eco system. So this means that big sharks help to keep seal populations at the right level for the ecosystem. If sharks did not eat some seals then the seal populations would get too big, the seals would eat more than their share of fish in the ecosystem and other animals would go without. The ecosystem itself could the collapse. Nature is good and keeping itself in balance.

Today we were very lucky with our sightings. We witnessed 3 predatory events as shark hunted seal. We also got to see a breach on a decoy.

Chris was the first person to start using fake seal decoys. They tow the decoy slowly behind the boat and sometimes they get very lucky to see a breaching Great white shark very close to us.

Monique said it’s very exciting and it also provides an opportunity for our guests to see this incredible behaviour. Eco tourism is vital to shark conservation. Sharks are not easy animals to see, you have to look specifically for them and you need people who know what they are doing to treat them with the respect that they deserve. If eco-tourism is done correctly people will come away from the experience as ambassadors for sharks and this ultimately will help in the future well-being of sharks. I will certainly be telling lots of people about my amazing experiences here with Chris and Monique.

GREAT WHITE SHARKS IN DANGER
One of the reasons I wanted to visit the great white sharks is because I heard that they weer endangered and I wanted to find out why. Chris and Monique are very concerned about the dangers to great white sharks. They explained how great white sharks are one of the predators at the top of the food chain. As such they play a vital role in keeping the balance of nature in check

Great white sharks have become an endangered species directly due to pressure from people. Great white sharks have been threatened by illegal poaching and sport fishing before they became a protected species in South Africa in 1991. Even so offshore long lining, the Natal Sharks Boards bathing nets up our South African East coast and various other implications from people.


Chris said there are many people that love sharks, especially kids. Chris and Monique said they get emails almost daily from kids all around the world telling them how much they love and respect sharks. Children are vital to the future of all animal conservation so Chris and Monique always encourage those that show such an early appreciation for sharks.

A lot of other people do not understand sharks and therefore are afraid of them. Often people are afraid of something because they know nothing about them, and this is very true of sharks. Yes, sharks are predators and as such when they hunt they can be aggressive and ferocious, this is what they do. They don’t waste anything and they only kill to eat. Sharks have been living in the oceans since the time of the dinosaurs - so the sharks were there first, it is their domain that we are entering.

Find out what happens next in the final part of my adventures with these amazing great white sharks.

Off to see Great White Sharks with Apex Expeditions

Hi all

Monique woke me at what appeared to be the middle of the night. It was still dark, the time was 5.00am. We all got aboard and departed Simons Town harbour just before first light. Monique said that all the Apex Crew and even the other guests on the boat were just as excited to have me on board and help me make the most of my experiences.

I asked why it was called False Bay and one of the crew told me that the name "False Bay" was used by sailors (at least three hundred years ago) who confused this bay with Table Bay whch is further to the north.

We were not the only ones active at this time of the morning. As the sun was just below the horizon and the sky was still a beautiful shade of early morning pink, we came across a school of about 400 common dolphins.

We could see large shoals of anchovy (fish) on the surface and this had obviously attracted the dolphin to the area. As our boat approached most of the school broke off to follow us in the wake of the boat. Everyone on board was very excited to see this beautiful scene. I have seen dolphins on my travels before but not hundreds in one place or so close to the boat.

As we looked towards Seal Island we were in for another surprise … 3 Southern Right Whales were relaxing on the surface just 1 mile from Seal Island. On our boat “White Pointer 2” we sat with our engines turned off, just a little way away from the group of whales. Within 10 minutes the whales were extremely relaxed and had moved very slowly towards us.

The crew found me a safe comfortable place to sit on the side of the boat where I would be close to the whales.

I enjoyed an amazingly close moment with the 3 Southern Right Whales. One of the whales even “spy hopped” right in front of us.

This is when a whale pokes its head out of the water to have a look around. Monique said that maybe the whale was just as curious about me!

Monique said that the Southern Right Whales migrate from Antarctica to the South African shores, arriving here in August/September each year. Whilst they feed in Antarctica their reason for travelling to South Africa is to use the safer shallow bays to breed and give birth to their calves.

I have seen acrobatic humpback whales in the Hawaiian Islands and Channel Islands in the US. But there is something very special about floating on a very still ocean listening to the whales calmly breathing in very loud spurts very close to us. They seemed quite happy with our company, something I will always remember.

Wow, so much excitement and we haven’t even seen a great white shark yet!