We were extremely fortunate to see the Cape Clawless otters on three occasions in the past few months. One otter even swam under the boat, luckily Grant Laidlaw had is camera ready and took this short video …

I attached a wide range of images below that are all take in Western Cape waters and mostly from the past few months. I hope you enjoy the images and can picture yourself face to face with creatures, as I have been :)

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I am very proud to share that we have built a beautiful small house in Kalk Bay over looking the ocean (sort of ) and backing onto the mountain side. In case you have not clicked on the link on the home page, this is what it says -

Milkwood House is a stunning and wonderful self-catering house, located within the quirky ocean-side small town of Kalk Bay. The house sleeps 6 between two separate rooms and a sleeper couch.

Quaint and fully furnished, the house is an excellent accommodation option for those who would like to see all the sights and action in Kalk Bay and it’s beautiful surrounds. The double-story house consists of two double bedrooms, each with en-suite bathrooms. A sleeper couch will sleep a further two guests. The open-living room is decorated in marine imagery, and sports a fully equipped kitchen, sea views, and comfortable lounge area with DStv. The patio features a braai area and mountain views.

Secure off-street parking is provided, as well as a alarm system for your security. As an added extra, there is Wi-Fi Internet access available. You’ll have easy walking access to the harbor and Kalk Bay amenities, such as restaurants, curio shops, and beaches.

So if any one wants to come diving and live the Cape Town dream fo a short period, dont hesitate to ask.

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The source of the below text is www.politicsweb.co.za.

Fish Hoek shark attack: What happened

REPORT AND REVIEW OF EVENTS AT FISH HOEK BEACH AFTER GREAT WHITE SHARK INCIDENT 28 SEPTEMBER 2011

As a result of the incident at Fish Hoek beach yesterday, 28 September. The City of Cape Town has compiled a report of the incident which is below for information:

Introduction

At approximately 12.30 on Wednesday 28 September 2011, a 43 year old male, Mr. Michael Cohen was bitten and severely injured by a Great White Shark near Clovelly Corner, Fish Hoek beach while swimming. The victim sustained severe injuries which included the loss of his right leg and severe damage to his left foot.

The purpose of the review is to establish:

• The facts and ensure that the correct information is provided to authorities as well as the public
• Assess whether any reasonable actions could have been done to prevent the attack
• Identify areas / aspects that need to be improved to reduce the chance of further attacks
• Provide a detailed account of the events for the record

Shark Bite Details

The following account of the events leading up to the attack, the attack itself as well as the emergency response has been compiled based on interviews conducted on 28 September with all parties involved.

Although the accounts from various witnesses vary to some degree, as expected following a traumatic event, the following may be considered as an accurate description of the events leading up to as well as the shark bite and emergency response thereafter.

The Shark Spotters first sighted two Great White Sharks at 9.15. The alarm was sounded and the beach closed and the white flag raised. Once the sharks had moved back out the bay the Red Warning Flag was raised as per standard safety protocol.

At approximately 10.50 Shark Spotters re-sighted two Great White Sharks for the second time within Fish Hoek Bay. As per protocol the shark siren was again sounded, the beach cleared of swimmers and the shark flag raised. In both cases, sms notification of the sighting was distributed via the Disaster Risk Management (DRM) notification system.

At around 12.25 the mountain Shark Spotter saw a swimmer enter the water near the Clovelly Corner area. The spotter tried to sound the alarm, but due to a Eskom related city-wide electricity failure the alarm did not sound. The spotter notified his colleague on the beach as well as Monwabisi Sikweyiya, the Shark Spotting operations manager by radio. The beach spotter began to run toward Clovelly corner to warn the swimmer while Monwabisi drove to Clovelly corner.

Just after 12.25, according to eye witness Kyle James, a large shark casually and slowly approached the swimmer. At this point the swimmer was swimming parallel to the beach in a southerly direction just off the brown water emanating from the Silvermine River mouth. The shark approached the man from behind who was unaware of the sharks’ presence. The shark lunged for the swimmer, shook him once, then let go and moved off 5 to 10 metres away.

Two beach goers, Mr. Douglas Drysdale, 61, from Glencairn Heights, and Mr Hugh Till, 66, from Fish Hoek entered the water and assisted Mr Cohen to shore. Before entering the water they called emergency services. At this time, Monwabisi Sikweyiya arrived on the scene and immediately began first aid measures. Monwabisi removed his own belt and applied it as a tourniquet, elevated the victim’s leg and removed his shorts, which he used to stem the blood loss.

Monwabisi immediately called Mr Ian Kloppers of the NSRI and EMS services who initiated emergency response. A helicopter was dispatched while Monwabisi and the two rescuers stayed with and stabilised the victim. SMS notification of the attack was distributed to City officials and relevant authorities via the DRM notification system and City officials were alerted of the attack within 4 minutes of it occurring.

Once emergency services landed on the beach, the victim was stabilised further and medi-vacted by helicopter to Constantiaberg Hospital.

The manager of the Shark Spotting Programme was on site and coordinating a response within 5 minutes of the attack. City officials from Environmental Management, Sport Recreation and Amenities as well as from Law Enforcement were all on site within 20 minutes of the attack taking place. A scientist from the Shark Spotting Programme and Save Our Seas Shark Centre was on site within 20 minutes to record and collate information on the incident. Fish Hoek lifesaving club members were alerted to the attack within 10 minutes of the event taking place and launched their rescue rubber duck.

Actual Eye Witness Accounts

Description:

Ashley- Shark Spotter account

The man was swimming parallel to shore in front of the river outfall at the time of the incident, in shallow water no more than 50 meters from shore. There were two Great White Sharks in the vicinity, a smaller one about “2 – 3 meters” and a larger one “4 -5 meters”. The larger shark was swimming towards the swimmer on the inside of the swimmer between the swimmer and the shore in very shallow water. The second, smaller shark was a fair distance away from the swimmer.

The shark swam past the swimmer into deeper water and made a large circle around him at a relaxed pace. The shark swam up behind the swimmer and then bit his legs. Contrary to preliminary reports of multiple bites, there was only one bite and then the shark released the man and swam away. At that stage Ashley stopped tracking the shark and concentrated on the swimmer and two rescuers who had entered the water. They pulled the man to shore where Monwabisi started administering first aid to the victim.

Kyle James – eyewitness walking by at the time of the incident

Kyle was walking from Kalk Bay to Clovelly when he saw a man swimming in Clovelly corner. He then saw a dark shadow about “3.5 – 4 meters” swimming slowly behind the swimmer. He recognised the dark shape as a shark. He describes the shark as swimming slowly up to the swimmer and when it was about 2 meters away it “jerked forward” biting the man on the legs. He described the shark raising slightly out of the water and giving one bite and then swimming slowly away again. He said the incident couldn’t have lasted more than 15 seconds.

He describes the shark swimming slowly away and then pausing a few meters away from the victim. After the pause the shark kept on swimming slowly away. Kyle saw a seal (possibly two), close to the victim at the time of the incident and thought that the seal was “trying to help the man”. However, seals are highly equipped physically and behaviourally to avoid sharks. This observed behaviour is more likely explained by the seal avoiding the shark and using the man as a refuge like they do with kelp and other floating objects

Environmental conditions

At the time of the attack, seas were calm, visibility was good and the wind was blowing in a gentle south-westerly direction. The shark was visible to the spotter at all times since the first sighting of the day at 10.50.

Status of Equipment at the time of the attack

The following was verified through this review:

• The shark alarm was in working order and had been sounded at 10.50
• There was a general electricity outage at the time of the attack
• All radios were in working order
• The shark flag was flying
• All general beach shark signage was in place and functional

General Information

The victim was known to the Shark Spotters and had previously repeatedly ignored verbal warnings by the spotters to adhere to the shark warnings and beach closures.

The victim’s car was parked in the main parking area at Fish hoek beach indicating that he had accessed the beach from the well signposted area where the shark warning flag was flying.

He had informed the car guards of where his car keys were hidden in the event that something happened to him.

Victim was wearing navy blue swimming shorts and black goggles, and had bangles on one arm and a watch on the other.

Victim was swimming between the shore and breakers (not behind breakers).

General awareness on Great White Shark seasonal migration inshore

As has become standard operation each year during August the City and its partners issues a media release reminding Capetonians of the expected seasonal increase in Great White Sharks closer to shore as they start to spend less time at the seal colony and more time inshore. The City and NSRI released the information on 29 August 2011. Following the release numerous radio, TV and print interviews were conducted to create awareness around the issue to better prepare sea water users.

History of shark attacks in Fish Hoek within last six years

Tyna Webb, fatal, November 2006

Lyle Maasdorp, no injury, surf-ski bitten, September 2008

Lloyd Skinner, fatal, January 2010

In the interest of public safety, it should be noted that in the case of Tyna Webb, Lloyd Skinner and Michael Cohen, shark warnings were in place prior to all of these events. Public adherence to shark warnings remains a constant challenge in preventing shark attacks.

Additional relevant information

Reports from staff indicate that members of the public continue to ignore shark warnings. Shark Spotters reported that on the morning of 28 September people in Fish Hoek were verbally abusive when asked to leave the water due to the shark sightings before the incident. The shark spotters report that there were members of the public who refused to leave the water at adjacent beaches after the incident when the beaches were officially closed. Adherence by the public to shark warnings remains a constant concern.

Shark sightings at Fish Hoek of the week leading up to 28 September 2011

24 September (Saturday): 3 shark sightings (10h26, 12h26, 14h47)

25 September (Sunday): 2 shark sightings (11h21, 12h18)

26 September (Monday): 1 shark sighting (09h29)

27 September (Tuesday): 1 shark sighting (15h36)

Shark behaviour before incident

Two sharks had been observed patrolling the inshore areas of Fish hoek since 09h15 on the morning of the incident. The water was clear and the sharks and their behaviour seen clearly. The shark spotter noted that the sharks were spending a lot of time in Clovelly corner near the river mouth and were swimming in “very shallow” water. The behaviour of the sharks was described as being relaxed. At some times they were close together and at other times far apart, but both spent a lot of time in the corner at Clovelly.

On previous days (Saturday, 24 September 2011 in particular) it was noted by the spotters and lifeguards that the sharks looked like they were feeding on something in the Clovelly area. Behaviour such as “thrashing” in shallow water were noted. Furthermore, on Saturday in particular, black-backed kelp gulls (> 30) were observed hovering over the sharks indicative of scavenging of prey remains. On both Saturday and Sunday the sharks also showed a lot of interest in floating pieces of kelp, often swam with their dorsal fins out of the water, and one shark was even described as spy-hopping. Their behaviour was generally described as slow patrolling.

Conclusion

1. Could the attack have been avoided within reasonable means?

It is the position of this review that all shark safety protocols had been followed:

• shark spotters were on duty,
• the beach had been closed and cleared at 10h50
• the Great White Shark flag was flying, and
•  the Shark Spotters did everything possible to get to the man once they realised he had entered the water.

Mr. Douglas Drysdale and Mr. Hugh Till, the two rescuers who pulled Mr. Cohen from the water helped save his life and should be commended for their bravery.

Further the actions and response by Monwabisi Sikweyiya following the attack which included:

• Applying his belt as a tourniquet
• Elevating the injured leg
• Stemming the blood flow with his shirt
• Contacting the NSRI for emergency medical response

should also be commended. Without this immediate, rational and professional response by Monwabisi Sikweyiya the victim more than likely would have bled to death on the beach.

2. Overall Findings

• All shark warning protocols were followed by the shark spotters as required and stipulated throughout 28 September
• The immediate, rational and professional response by Monwabisi Sikweyiya to the attack directly resulted in the victim surviving the attack
• The brave actions of the two beach goers Mr Drysdale and Mf Till who pulled the victim from the water must be noted and commended
• All emergency response and notification procedures worked. Officials were notified within minutes of the attack, officials were on site within 20 minutes and victim was stabilised and medi-vacted by helicopter to hospital within 40 minutes of the attack.
• The only gap in the shark safety programme that could be noted was the general Eskom related electricity failure which meant the alarm could not be sounded again when the victim entered the water.

3. Recommendations

• The Shark Spotting Programme should be commended for its compliance to all standard shark safety protocols during the day of 28 September. Lessons learnt from previous incidents have been applied and training has been effective in improving responses to these incidents. Follow-up first-aid and emergency training that staff have received since the previous incident in January 2010 was well applied, particularly in the speedy response of Monwabisi Sikweyiya.
•  The success, speed and effectiveness of the emergency response and notification system should be noted
• The actions of Monwabisi Sikweyiya be noted and commended
• The actions of Mr Drysdale and Mr Till be noted and commended
• Back-up battery systems be provided to all shark alarms in the event of electricity outages
• A designated swimming area at Fish Hoek beach be demarcated on a daily basis by the Lifesaving Club in consultation with the Shark Spotters. Lifesaving club and City Law Enforcement members to actively ensure that all bathers utilise this area. This information about a defined bathing area at Fish Hoek to be communicated via the media.

Further information on the Shark Spotters Programme can be found at http://sharkspotters.blogspot.com.

Here of a few images I’ve taken whilst diving recently with the Sevengill sharks

Sevengill sharks can perform turns at lightning speed, here one does this infront of me.

A male Sevengill shark swims overhead. These sharks are not disturbed by bubbles or SCUBA divers

The interns from Ocean Research enjoyed the Sevengill shark experience - pic Mark van Coller

Deane Jacobs comes face to face with a Sevengill shark. Note the powerhead hole in the sharks head

Take a ride on the pectoral fine of a Sevengill shark.

Photographer Mark Van Coller goes into take a shot

The opportunity soon came and I ventured to the unknown dive site and explored. What I saw blew me away. Two massive pillars of rock rose from the seabed, terminating just 4m below the surface. I descended the vertical 20m sides to the bottom. The walls of the pinnacle were encrusted with a myriad of marine life; Lacy False-corals, False Plum anemones, Strawberry anemones and Multicolored sea-fans provided spectacular coloring. The boulders at the base of the towering pillars are covered in delicate Palmate sea-fans. Clearly no one has been there, as all the fragile corals and sea-fans are perfectly intact and pristine.

I excitedly called fellow divers to ask about this reef…. but no know of knew it. Several people said they had seen something in the area on their Sonar as they travelled home, but no one had stopped and dived. I invited Georgina Jones and Peter Southwood from the Southern Underwater Research Group to join me. Peter has been mapping reefs around False Bay and could confirm if this amazing reef was in fact “new” to the diving world. He has since added it to the greater information central at  Wikitravel

At the moment we are diving at this site as much as possible and exploring this reef further. But what has become clear is that you never know what you can find, if you look, in the familiar areas you think you know well.

If you would like to join us as we explore this exciting reef, email me to book a dive….

Georgina Jones at the top of one of the "Pillars of Hercules". The pinnacles come up to 4m below the surface !

Georgina Jones lies at the foot of one of the "Pillars of Hercules". This image shows the 20m reef wall in its entirety. Sea floor is at 24m

Georgina Jones explores the huge overhang under one of the pinnacles.

The wall's are covered in life and spectacular colors.

Palmate sea-fans cover many the boulders at the base of the Pillars of Hercules

Some images from the day taken off Animal Ocean….

The Wild Coast

The hours spent ducking-and-diving through silvery baitballs in azure water, dodging determined cormorants battling bright-eyed gannets for baitfish, made this year’s sardine run a memorable one. We struggled with bad weather and a relative scarcity of those shimmering sardine shoals along the Wild Coast. It seemed the sardines had stubbornly chosen to head around the coastline or into deeper waters, emerging in their thousands on the Kwa-Zulu Natal coast.

Still, there was no shortage of heart-stopping moments with some of the ocean’s greatest predators. We dived with elegant sailfish and cheered the gannets on as they choked down enormous mackerel, willing them to dodge the sharks who tried to snatch their hard-won meals.  Graceful humpback whales played out a behemoth-ballet as they arrived on our coastline and held us spellbound. All-in-all, a challenging run that made the special moments truly awe-inspiring.

The long hours on the water really paid off when one experienced moments like this

THE WEATHER REPORT

The sms I received on the 5^th of July captures it all: “Lightning, hail, horizontal rain and gusting more than 30 knots”. Shortly after we arrived in Port St John’s, the Wild Coast was buffeted by consecutive cold fronts, gale-force winds, heavy rain and huge swells. Luckily, our spot on the coast was less affected, but we were forced to hide away from the wild weather occasionally. Some were saying that this year’s sardine run had some of the most severe weather events in recent memory. Despite the rough conditions, there were only two days on which we couldn’t surf launch. Great luck with clients arriving and leaving ensured that we didn’t cancel any more days; on three occasions clients left just as the bad weather hit, or arrived just as the Wild Coast calmed a little.

Jean Tresfon and Mark Van Coller, facing the rough conditions to get the images

The Wild Coast holding true to its name. Waves pounding below the Cape Hermes lighthouse

The predators experienced the rough weather with us, here Cape Gannets scour the ocean for fish

THE BAITBALLS

We had some fantastic experiences diving on baitballs this year, but it was not easy going. We had heard of great baitball activity around  East London whilst we were travelling up to Port St John’s: it lasted about 4 days, cut short by foul weather. We found the remnants of this pulse of fish 60km south of Port St John’s on the 12^th and 13th of June.

Gannets hitting the water at 90 - 100km an hour. They fold themselves into an arrow and pierce through the water at lightning speed

The balls of sardines were in 6-8m visibility and comprised about one hundred fish.  Luckily, these low numbers of fish didn’t deter the hundreds of gannets raining out of the sky to catch them. Everyone saw their fill and we took turns to slip into the water, two at a time, so as to not disturb the predators and prolong the activity for as long as possible.

Dolphins descend into the dark waters to snatch a sardine - Pic by Geoff Spiby

It was on one of these small baitballs that I came upon a pair of sailfish preying on the sardines. The largest fish was battling with a broken bill, whilst the smaller sailfish lit up the waters with its shimmering, disco-style scales. It was amazing to see them slash into the bait ball with deadly accuracy and phenomenal skill.

A Sailfish lunges at sardines in a rare moment on this years Sardine Run

We found three bait balls on the 22^nd and 23^rd of June, but these were in quite poor visibility. We  free dived with these sardines as dolphins rushed through and got their fill. The 4th of July had us stumble upon two bait balls – no sardines this time, but  redeye round herring (Etrumeus whitheadi).

Two Cape Gannets fight over a Redeye round herring. These birds hit the water at 90-100km/h leaving a con trail behind them

Redeyes are closely related to sardines but are permanent residents on the inshore areas of the Wild Coast. They don’t have 6 – 10 spots running down their lateral line like sardines, and feed on larger zooplankton whilst  sardines  feed on  the  smaller primary producers, phytoplankton. Aside from being a different species, they also form different types of bait balls. These shoals of fish tend to be less tightly packed and move quickly, often making a dash for safety as soon as the predation activity stops.

To prove the point, on one occasion I swam after one of these redeye bait balls for 1.8km! Each time I approached, the dolphins would slow down their feeding routine and the fish would shoot off, swimming about 4m below the surface. The dolphins would catch up and begin feeding again. This continued for about an hour, until the dolphins maintained the shoal’s position, allowing the SCUBA divers to enter the water.

Sharks didn't feature highly for us this year. But on several occasion they did make an appearance and were part of the action. Here a copper shark snaps a fish on the surface

The 8^th of July gave us the best bait ball of the trip. As we left the river mouth that morning, hundreds of dive-bombing gannets gave away the location of several bait balls.  We were looking for clean water and hoping that the gannets and dolphins had isolated a shoal of fish in great visibility water. We spotted another boat, with its clients already diving with a good ball of fish in clean water. I headed over and noticed that about 100m away was a second bait ball. We quickly got in. The water was blue and clear with 10-15m visibility and the dolphins and gannets were feeding  unperturbed by our presence. On close examination of the photographers’ images it can be seem that this shoals was mostly redeye with a few sardines thrown in the mix. The predators didn’t seem to care and were consuming all that they could. Each photographer emptied two SCUBA tanks over the next three hours:  the bait ball continued unabated and 6 other operators brought their clients to dive with it. The dolphins and gannets had kept up a feeding frenzy all this time, but the highlight for me was definitely the plucky cormorants weaving their way in and out of the shoaling fish.

Photographers in the action. Here a mixture of Redeye round herring and sardines were being consumed by Cape Gannets, Common dolphins and Cape cormerants

A beautiful image by Grant Hulley of a Cape cormorant peering at his camera

Cape cormerants fight over a fish underwater. They were ruthless and without fear.

In total we encountered bait balls on 7 of the 37 days that we were on the water, which equates to 18.9% of our total time there. It goes to show that getting that once-in-a-lifetime bait ball is a very difficult thing to do.  It requires the correct team, patience, dedication, a good dose of optimism and a healthy bit of luck.  As I always tell the divers that join me for the epic adventure: “You have to  appreciate the Sardine Run in its entirety, from the dolphins riding the bow wave to the scattered diving  gannets. It’s all part of the story”

Mother and calf Long beaked common dolphins search for the next meal

GANNET AND MACKEREL MAYHEM

Sardines and Red eye round herring are not the only fish being targeted by the army of predators. In fact, just about any small fish is likely to find itself inside a gannet,  dolphin or shark if it isn’t quick.

There is, however, another species that is readily snapped up (albeit with more difficulty): the mackerel. This year there was a four to five day period where these fish were tagreted by the predators with some interesting results. The main predators driving the action were the bottle nose dolphins. This is interesting as these dolphins don’t feed on or create bait balls out of the small baitfish species. These  larger (+- 500g) fish were clearly on their menu. Most of this action happened in the surface waters off Mgazi and was captured topside by the photographers. The dolphins would chase the fish, which triggered off  the gannets. They plummeted from the sky en masse, and if they did seize a huge fish, would fight amongst themselves to swallow it. There was certainly no cooperation or sharing going on here! Gannets would fight ruthlessly, seizing  fish and pushing them underwater.  There could be four or five gannets all hanging doggedly  on to one fish, heads underwater and wings splayed out on the surface. The bird that held its breath the longest usually won the prize.

Bottlenose dolphins were responsible for instigating the mackerel mayhem. Here a pod swims through he clean water farther offshhore

The squabbling was intense and the birds chased one another and the lucky bird tried to swallow its hard won catch

A gannets wingspan is 1.8m, it's a big bird. The fish in its mouth is about 30cm and is about to get swallowed whole !

A couple of sharks always wanted in on the action, of course, so the risks were serious. We noticed that if the gannets stayed on the surface fighting the big mackerel for too long, the sharks (usually copper or dusky sharks)  would hone in on the scuffle and snap at the cluster of birds to try stealing the fish. We saw a number of birds fatally wounded as the sharks exploded at the surface. This was a spectacular display of interaction between species, and it was a privilege to witness the struggle for life on the oceans.

A shark cruises up to an unsuspecting gannet, just after the birds have been fighting with a big mackerel

A shark bursts into a flock of squabbling gannets

A fatally wounded Cape gannet, we watched as a copper shark burst into the squabbling flock of Gannets and bit at the commotion, leaving this bird injured

HUMPBACK WHALES

The first signs that the South African coastline would soon begin to heave with the presence of these enormous mammals came around the 12^th of June, with the arrival of single, young whales. We continued to see between one and five animals a day, until we were seeing between twenty and thirty whales a day! When I left Port St John’s on the 22^nd of July, the whales were streaming in towards the coast. During the 206  hours we spent at sea, we saw  224  whales  – a phenomenal privilege and excellent sign as far as whale conservation goes.

The ocean was alive with Humpback whales. Breaching splashes could be seen all over the ocean on some days

All the whales were heading up the coast to warmer waters off Mozambique and Madagascar where they mate and give birth, treating us all the while to aerial feats that took our breath away.

Although it seemed a little early to be returning to the Southern Ocean, we spotted six humpbacks leading a tiny calf, wrinkled and grey, southwards. There were several occasions where we watched bottlenose dolphins cruising along the  bow-wave made by pods of Humpbacks .

During the first week of July, we heard reports of a sick young whale off the Port St John’s river. A week later, it was found near Waterfall Bluff. We went to investigate and found it to be a 5m young Humpback, still alive and breathing, but floating motionless. It appeared pink in colour, which on closer inspection turned out to be the result of a thick, living cover of lice crawling over its skin. We took images, and brought back samples of the lice to show the Marine Mammal Research Institute at the Isiko Museum and parasitologists at UCT.

A split level shot of the dying Humpback whale. The pink coloration is from the lice coating its body

INTERESTING MARINE SIGHTINGS

Pan-Tropical Spotted dolphins

On the 14^th of June we were told about a pod of dolphins 10km off shore of Port St John’s. We headed over to have a look and found that  they were not the expected Long-beaked common dolphins, but a pod of  two-to-three hundred smaller pan-tropical spotted dolphins. We jumped into the crystal clear water and watched as they swam 25m below.

Pan-tropical spotted dolphins on the Wild Coast

Bullsharks

Towards the middle of July, a small Bullshark was found stranded on a sandbank at the mouth of the Umzimvubu River. It was spotted by the team from Shark Explorers and set free.

Sailfish

There were seven sightings of sailfish during our time at sea. We saw two underwater on a baitball, and on two occasions we watched from the boat as they fed on the surface. The other three records were of sailfish jumping out of the wake of moving SCUBA boats.

PORT ST JOHN’S AND THE OUTSPAN INN

Neat accommodation, a relaxed environment and the close proximity to the ocean made the Outspan Inn a great HQ for our operations again this year. Warm hospitality on the part of John and Kathryn Costello, owners of the establishment, made the stay enjoyable and the divers loved to hear them impart their considerable knowledge about the Wild Coast.

The Outspan Inn - Animal Ocean HQ

The accommodation at the Outspan Inn

BAD WEATHER: EXPLORING THE WILD COAST ON LAND

The spectacular Wild Coast ensured that, even when we couldn’t go to sea, there was plenty to explore. The heart-pounding Magwa Falls had us mesmerized as its foaming waters plummeted 144m into a gorge below. On the 8^th of June, this river flooded and a torrent of brown water coursed its way to the precipitous drop. Frazer Falls and Angel Falls added to our waterfall-enchantment, and John Costello generously offered to lead us along little-known 4X4 trails to Waterfall Bluff. Here, powerful ocean swells crash against flat-faced sandstone and sent plumes of white water rocketing to the sky. In a fit of excitement, the Animal Ocean staff donned duck-yellow oilskins and got up-close to these walls of water to add perspective to the photographer’s images. it was quite an experience! After crawling under the northern waterfall on the Bluff, we emerged surprisingly dry and watched as this stream of freshwater tossed its flow straight into the churning ocean below.  The little-explored regions of this landscape, scattered as it is with the flaming heads of red-hot pokers and characterized by plunging ravines, slackflanked cattle  that graze near the beaches and a colourful nation of people ensured we were never bored on days when the ocean raged at us with her biggest swells.

The big swells provided amazing photographic oppertunities. Here we took the 4x4's to Lapathana to witness the unique wave action.

Magwa Falls is a spectacularly beautiful 144m waterfall

Jean Tresfon sits behind a waterfall on Waterfall Bluff

CROWDS AND OTHER OPERATORS

This year proved to be a very busy one for all the operators in Port St John’s, with most  operations starting around the middle of June. At the height of the season, there were between thirteen and fifteen boats launching each day. This could lead to conflict as boats rushed to get their divers to any bait ball activity that came up. I was generally impressed with how all the operators behaved on the water. On one particular occasion, we had three boats waiting to dive on a bait ball that we had discovered, and everyone was patient and all got their turn. In fact, that bait ball lasted all day and five to eight boats dropped their divers in – and all got to see it. One great thing about having so many eyes on the ocean is that information does get transferred.

TWITTER

16 July  – Wahoo!! Another day on the run. The baseline animal activity is actually ridiculous, I feel so privileged to get to see it.

This media-platform proved to be a great way to spread up-to-date information: I was planning to post more images than what I did, but the weak signal at sea didn’t allow that to happen. Getaway Magazine was instrumental in re-tweeting my posts, and it was always great to see the responses from those following the adventure. Taking another look at some of my tweets, I’ve realized how great it was to convey our excitement to everyone keeping tabs!

10 July  – Just had a sailfish feeding next to the boat. The fish was fully lit up and sail extended, what a sight!

8 July  – Epic red eye baitballs in clean water and predators going crazy. Saw gannets and cormorants fighting over fish. What a day.

4 July – Epic day in a hellishly rough sea with baitballs lasting hours !!!!! Predators tearing them apart.

14 June  -Sards from yest are eaten! Water filthy inshore. Went offshore, found 30m vis and pantripical spotted dolphins, epic!

COMMENTS FROM SARDINE RUN 2011

Ed Scott – Director / AVIVA Volenteering

When I first heard that a short notice slot was available for a week on the Sardine Run with Steve Benjamin and Animal Ocean, little prompting was needed. A few nanoseconds later I chatted with a very good friend, she quoted Nike, so I just did it.

That week launching through the surf from Port St Johns turned out to be the best of my life, and one I will repeat often. I will never forget our first bait ball.kitted up and ready to slip into the water, trying to remember breathing routines, willing my pulse to slow down, and finally giving in as my heart threatened to beat its way out of my chest with excitement. Finning towards the bait ball was an adventure in itself, with glimpses of common dolphins torpedoing past, and numerous dusky sharks gliding purposefully below, then finally a thousand flashes of silver up ahead as the real stars of the show tried in vain to escape their fate. The ocean quickly worked its calming magic, and before long our pulses were back in the safe zone, with everyone watching in awe as one of nature’s most amazing spectacles unfolded before us. So began a week of unforgettable memories, searching for diving gannets on the high seas, untold hours below the waves in a state of complete bliss, and the incredible gains in bladder control that come from living in an open cell wetsuit for nine hours each day. With so much happening around you, the reality of what you’re seeing takes time to sink in, and even now I have to remind myself it wasn’t a dream. Freediving below a bait ball with the sardines silhouetted above, dusky and copper sharks circling around you, gannets sounding like mini explosions as they hit the water, and dolphins smashing into the sardines within a few feet of you.it’s a little like meditating, just more interesting. And as the maelstrom of whirling dolphins and sharks clears, a few hardy sardines band together in a cloud of glittering confetti, a million floating fish scales being the only evidence that the sardines were there at all.

As with all things in nature, timing is everything. During our five days at sea we were fortunate to freedive with three species of dolphin, four species of shark, a graceful humpback whale, and on one bait ball, a surprise visit from two stunning sailfish that proceeded to put on a dazzling display as they sliced through the sardines with rapid turns and incredible bursts of speed. As fortunate as we were, none of this would have been possible without a skilled and knowledgeable skipper, a boat equal to the task, and sandwiches that somehow taste much better at sea than they do ashore. As if that wasn’t good enough, a boat full of virgins that got on well together was a real bonus, as are the friendships that were made during this incredible week. If you’re not tempted already, try imagining what it’s like to be pinged by a dolphin, and feeling those clicks vibrate in your lungs as they swim up to investigate you.as Steve would say.’Epic!’

Vanessa Randon – Adventure Consultant / Volunteer Adventure Corperation 

In June this year, I had the immense privileged of taking 12 young foreign students for a week’s adventure along the Transkei coast. We spent 3 glorious days in Port St Johns with Animal Ocean searching for the front runners of the Sardine run. Unfortunately we were a little early for the thousands of sardines what enjoy that coastline, however that did not stop Steve and Justin from helping us enjoy EVERYTHING that Port St Johns had to offer. Not only were we blessed with 24 degree water and a good 20m visibility on each day but we had the opportunity to swim with pods of up to 100 common dolphins and enjoy some incredible shark action. When that wasn’t enough, we snorkeled and watched Steve and Justin catch dinner, and they even pulled out some rods, for us to try our hands at fishing. For some of my group this was not only their first time in a wetsuit, but first time swimming in the sea as well. It’s an incredible thing to be in a situation like that with 2 knowledgeable guides, who not only made every single minute  on the water fun and exciting, but who shared their deep passion and knowledge of the sea with a group of people who hung on to their every word. The guys made our days fun, exciting and interesting. We felt 100% safe, and could not have chosen more reliable and interesting guides. We will be coming back every year to enjoy Animal Ocean, and the incredible guys that made our trip possible. From all of us at VACorps, thank you to Steve and Justin, for being so exceptional!

LOOKING AHEAD: SARDINE RUN 2012

This year  has just ended and I’m already  planning for next year. The  trip and the way we ran it  have proven successful and I plan to continue this. We will once again be staying at the Outspan Inn from the 10th of June onwards and using Port St John’s as the base for our access to the sardine run.

If you are interested in booking onto a trip with me please let me know. It is a trip you wont forget. Information soon coming to the Animal Ocean website

The undisturbed playground for oystercatchers, penguins and terns

At 3.1km in length, Dassen Island is second only to the nearby Robben Island as the biggest island off the South African coast. But unlike its politically and historically renowned neighbour, it is a terrestrial reserve, set aside for a huge diversity of nesting marine birds. The birds, eschewing the constant disturbance on the main land, flock to Dassen Island to breed.

Flocks of seabirds nest in undisturbed peace

The island’s colourful history is displayed in a tiny dusty museum room on the island.

An information board, encrusted with glittering sea salt, tells the story well: “Penguin eggs are rich. They are excellent for baking and boiled yolk (the white doesn’t set) was popular for individual meals. When soap and water ran low at the islands, men even washed them selves in penguin eggs!”

A lone penguin contimplates life on the island

A few penguins waddling up the beach these days aside, I simply can’t imagine what this island was like with so many penguins on it. Some serious exploitation took place in the island’s past and during the period 1900-1960 penguin eggs were commercially harvested on the island. As many as 500 000 eggs were taken from the island in the 1920’s.

To make egg collecting easier, a wall was built around the island some 30 to 50 metres inland. This forced the birds to concentrate in coastal areas and made egg collection easier. At this level of exploitation, very few chicks were raised. This was the main reason the population at Dassen Island fell from over 1 million birds in 1900 to less than 50 000 in the 1960’s. Egg collection was only made illegal in 1967: until then, penguin eggs were still a delicacy served up in parliament!

The penguin wall, used to make harvesting eggs easier.

Another veritable goldmine as far as resources were concerned was guano harvesting. Guano – a Peruvian word for accumulated dried bird droppings – was termed “white gold” in the 1800s due to its value as fertiliser. In 1843, a trader from Liverpool sent the first ships to collect guano off southern Africa. One was wrecked, one turned back and the third came back with less than a full load. Yet at ten British pounds a ton, that load provided a profit for the entire venture! So valuable was guano that the British, though able to take control over what is now Namibia, kept only the guano island and let Germany take the rest.

Cape Cormerants fly overhead. Gone are the days of guano collecting

The original buildings used by the guano scrapers are still present.

Cape Cormorants were the main source of guano on Dassen Island. Penguin guano was not suitable for harvest due to its sandy nature and the substrate on which it was found. From 1898, guano scraping was conducted on Dassen by the guano islands division of the South African governments Department of Industries. Guano remained highly profitable until the 1950’s when artificial fertilisers were created, but scraping was only stopped in 1974.

The only lights at night are from the lighthouse, campfire and the stars overhead

The island is a different place today. At Huisbaai, a protected bay, one can still see the buildings used by the guano scrapers but these houses are now used by researchers – and only occasionally at that.

Stepping onto the island itself is like stepping into an open wilderness were humans don’t belong. Researchers and film crews with special permission are only allowed to walk on the road that connects the light house, on the south side, to the buildings at Huisbaai on the north side. The coast line is dominated by a raucous cacophony of nesting seabirds and any disturbance is avoided.

But this doesn’t stop the animals coming to you. There are rabbits and angulate tortoises everywhere. The rabbits hide behind every bush looking at you nervously and then sprint away; the tortoises do the same! Indeed, these ones CAN sprint and have earned the unofficial title of Fastest Tortoises in the World. The island also has the highest density of tortoise anywhere on the planet!

UCT student, Lauren de Vos, holds a hatchling tortise

One of the many speedy tortises on the island

Rabbits abound

Whilst walking on the interior of the island, one comes across penguins waddling through the low-lying scrub back to their nests. The penguin wall has largely been destroyed, so the birds once again nest were they please. We watched penguins come ashore in Huisbaai and waddle kilometres inland to their nest burrows. It didn’t make sense; they could have come ashore nearer to their burrow and walked a fraction of the distance. I suppose they aren’t as worried about their energy budget as the researchers are that study them!

Some of the students were lucky enough to help collect diet samples from a few birds. This is not an easy task as penguins are tenacious little birds: they run fast and bite hard. This is to be expected really; I wouldn’t want to give up my hard earned food to some scientists either!

Penguin numbers have been in drastic decline on our coastline, and the birds are now listed as endangered. The main problem it that they have to travel further to catch the pilchards and anchovy that they need to survive. By travelling further, they have less energy to spend on nesting and raising their young correctly. Unless something drastic is done, Dassen Island will never again be covered in penguins

There is also a breeding colony of pelicans on the island who show some interesting behaviour. They are often seen lining up, as they do when they are fishing, and walking through cormorant colonies, snapping up nestling cormorants that aren’t protected by their parents. In the evenings, one can sit on the boat in Huisbaai and watch them gliding low over the kelp beds as they come to land.

It is great to know that there is space, not far from Cape Town, where vulnerable sea birds can find a safe haven – at least on land. Unfortunately, these birds are reliant on the oceans to survive and I fear that with the impact we are having on our seas, there will simply no longer be enough fish to go around.

Beach combers

Gopro with corrective port attached

The cost remains the same R250 ($35) including normal postage within South Africa. International postage and overnight delivery in S.A. is extra. Contact me to order yours and get the results you want from you Gopro

The images below were taken with a Gopro using the corrective port. Images taken by Graham Fenwick