White Shark Diving

“What d'ya have there - a portable shower or a monkey cage?”
“Anti-Shark cage.”
“Anti-shark cage. You go inside the cage?”
“Cage goes in the water, you go in the water. Shark's in the water. Our shark.” - Jaws

It took us a week, but we finally made our journey to shark alley off the coast of Dyer Island. The island is home to thousands of Cape Fur Seals that sometimes become the unfortunate favorite snack of the great white shark. We used White Shark Ecoventures and their 33 foot boat to take the 27 people packed like sardines out to our dive site. Although called diving, floating is probably a better adjective to describe the activity. You jump in the cage with four other people and hold your breath as the shark swims by. Within minutes of arriving at the dive site our first White Shark appears, unleashing pandemonium on the boat as everyone tries to get a glimpse.

The cage diving was well organized rotating people in the cage every few minutes giving everyone adequate underwater viewing time. The view from the surface was just as exciting as the shark would occasionally lurch out of the water in attempts to consume the fish-on-a-rope. Staring into the eyes of one of these elite predators of the underwater world is an amazing feeling. It’s not a since of fear or anxiety, but yet excitement and intrigue as the White shark glides through the water slowly approaching the cage.

While waiting our turns on deck we learned some fascinating fun facts about these fish. They can reach up to 20 feet in length and weigh in at almost 5,000 lbs! Females are generally larger than males. Males have two penises (as do all male sharks) so they are really lovers not fighters. There are several reasons these apex predators are top fish in the sea. Counter shading has allowed them to blend into their surrounding in such a way that their white bellies go unseen by the animals beneath as they match the penetrating sunlight and their darker tops camouflage with the depths below. They also have an extra sense that enables them to distinguish electromagnetic fields produced by living animals. It is said they can identify up to half a billionth of a volt.

As for the dare to dive with bacon in our wetsuits, we opted for a whole hamburger as our lovely model is demonstrating. It drove the sharks crazy!