SHARK PARK: ROCKY BAY, SOUTH AFRICA

Sardine Run 2011 update

2011-06-11T08:03:00.000+02:00

After an exceptional first week and good start to the second week the team were shorebound for four very frustrating days with an exceptionly freakish cut off low weather pattern. This has broken up the thousands of gannets, dolphins and sharks that provided exceptional diving for the first ten days. With twelve Brydes whales getting in on the action it was an awesome start. The weather has broken up the action but with fewer than 30% of the birds on Bird Island it should just be a matter of time for it to come together again.

Brumbies swim with sharks at Shark Park:

2011-05-04T17:54:00.000+02:00

The Brumbies spent the morning swimming with the sharks of Shark Park. The guys were great and had a blast. As always Allen Walker was there to take the pictures - although in very poor visibility today.

Easter at Shark Park

2011-04-26T19:32:00.000+02:00

The team have had excellent surface conditions but the inwater has been dissappointing. We still managed to have some fun though.

Good day at Shark Park:

2011-04-25T20:06:00.000+02:00

Amazing surface conditions were the order of the day again at Shark Park. Visibility was between ten and twenty five meters!!!

First Minke of the season:

2011-04-24T20:25:00.000+02:00

A fine Easter Weekend of weather has our spirits up but the visibility has been dissappointing. The first Minke whale of the season was seen just south of Rocky Bay and spent over thirty minutes with a group of four boats. Hopefully this bodes well for the coming Sardine Run.

Team Jeep sort out our SHARK PARK signage!!!

2011-04-22T16:57:00.000+02:00

The fantastic team at www.jeepapparel.co.za have kitted out the Blue Wilderness team again and provided signage for the premises. No one will miss us now!!! A huge thank you to Steve, Dimitra, Rob, Priss and all of the team at Jeep.

Shark Angels at Shark Park

2011-04-11T18:01:00.000+02:00

Shark Angels filming at Shark Park:

2011-04-10T07:03:00.000+02:00

The Shark Angels team are filming for their upcoming series at Shark park. Wter temperatures have been a balmy 26 celsius for the past ten days helped by a sustained period of southerly wind. The easterlies of Saturday and today are bound to put an end to this though!

Rob Stewart leaves Shark Park and we hope he will be back:

2011-03-09T19:11:00.000+02:00

Rob Stewart has left Shark Park and continues on his crusade to make people aware of the thoughtless and often unseen destruction of the planet. Rob gets his message across through film and has very interesting and innovative ideas to do this - never mind his efforts to push the limits with new and innovative shot making.

Before Rob left he took time to chat to the http://www.coast2coast4cansa.co.za/ team and wished them well on their campaign in 2011 endorsing the Marine Census and water sampling as vital components to our understanding of the health of our local coastline.

Another unbelievable day at Shark Park:

2011-03-06T15:37:00.000+02:00

The team at Shark Park had another memorable day yesterday. The team are hosting Rob Stewart and had nine tigers, three bulls and over forty blacktips. The visibility was over fifteen meters and although there was a significant thermocline the water was clean above and below this.

Shark Park shows its best to Sharkwater legend Rob Stewart!

2011-03-04T17:43:00.000+02:00

The team at Shark Park are enormously privileged to have rob Stewart of Shark Water fame with us. Rob brought his own luck with him and we had six tigers, one bull and forty blacktips. Rob was in his element and got some great images for his new movie.

Great ten days but finally conditions close in:

2011-03-02T19:08:00.000+02:00

After an amazing ten days with bulls, tigers and blacktips being the order of the day and the odd hammerhead thrown in for good measure the conditions took a turn for the worse yesterday and today with the north east wind dropping the visibility to a five to seven meter soup-like consistency. The westerly wind coming through tonight should hopefully set things back to rights. With Rob Stewart and his team here for a few days it will be crucial to have some good conditions but it's all in mother nature's hands now.

Trying January and February with water not playing ball!

2011-02-21T10:19:00.000+02:00

Although the 31st Dec 2010 saw the old year out with ten Tiger sharks on the dive we have battled through January with not a single tiger seen. This past week saw 3 tiger sharks in residence and although the water was down to a chilly 15 ceslius earlier in the month we seem to have left this behind and with the warmer waters the tigers have been back to their best behaviour. Blacktip numbers have been good with up to 35 on a dive but have also suffered with the cold waters in February. The forecast going forward sees us taking a bit of swell from cyclone Bingiza as she wanders to the south east of Madagascar but water visibility is up to twenty meters and temperature up to 25 celsius on the surface with a big move from 18 celsius on the bottom to 21 celsius overnight the signs of a positive outlook going forward are there.

Busy end of 2010 and a great start to 2011

2011-01-24T14:41:00.000+02:00

The team at Shark Park had a great end to 2010 with the Shark Angels team having ten tiger sharks on New Years Eve. This success was short lived as we had a deluge of rain on the coast and inland, which saw us playing cat and mouse with river water over the dive sites, for the next two weeks. The New Year is rushing by and we eagerly await the arrival of legendary freediver Fred Buyle and his team for a week of freediving with the Sharks of Shark Park.

Five species of shark in a day for happy Shark Park clients!

2010-11-23T14:52:00.000+02:00

A strong north to south current and poor visibility ws the order of the day on Tuesday but clients had the opportunity to swim with four whale sharks, 35 raggies, 40 blacktips, 10 duskies, and 20 spinner sharks. The reef is teeming with many ray species on their annual mating visits to the reef and the guitar sharks are back in force. The south westerly winds will no doubt clean and warm the water up in the next few days and some excellent diving lies in store.

South African Champion Freediver returns to Shark Park

2010-11-15T11:17:00.000+02:00

South Africa's womens freediving record holder, Hanli Prinsloo, returned to Shark Park this week, fresh from a record breaking trip to The Red Sea. Hanli now owns every South African Freediving record. Hanli took time off from a rigorous competitive schedule to once again teach aspiring freedivers the tools of the trade. The courses were made up of a diverse range of participants from surfers, spearo's, scuba divers to general water users. Each participant took a huge amount away from the courses and many seasoned spearo's achieved personal bests in the various training disciplines Hanli put them through. We bid Hanli a sad farewill today but she is back in December to pass on her hard fought knowledge and skill to other aspiring freedivers in December.

Warm, clean water at Shark Park

2010-11-15T11:13:00.000+02:00

This past weekend saw the team at Shark Park revelling in warm, clean water and awesome sharks. Tigers, blacktips, duskies, raggies and whale sharks were the order of the day. The team also saw guitar sharks and three species of ray. Conditions look set to hold and more good diving is expected.

Summer's here with four species of shark on a single dive!

2010-10-30T06:37:00.000+02:00

This past week saw visitors to Shark Park enjoying great visibility and excellent shark activity. The team from African Space had four species of shark on a dive yesterday. They had three tigers, three bull sharks, five duskies and forty black tips. On the reef dive the team added raggies, guitar sharks and a number of ray species. All in a day's work!!

Another good week for the Sharks of Shark Park

2010-10-18T17:37:00.000+02:00

The team at Shark Park had another good period of weather and water which gave clients an opportunity to interact with two of the Tiger Tribe and a pair of bull sharks who were uncharacteristically friendly. The regular Blacktip Pack have been in full force and although the visibility dropped to a low of 8m it also provided a three day trot of 20m. Water temperatures were consistent and thus the improved shark sightings and apparently early return of the big tigers. Whale sharks have also made a surprisingly early arrival and so far we have had an animal sighting per week.

Tim Goodenough joined the Cancer Awareness drive for testicular and prostate cancer by posing with the Blacktip Pack in a red speedo, a 37 floor elevator drop, a bridge swing in the Moses Mabhida Stadium and completing the Daredevil Run in Johannesburg in the same scanty attire. Well done Tim!!!!!!!!!!

Looks like summer!

2010-09-30T16:17:00.000+02:00

The past week has seen a welcome return of visibility and water temperature to Shark Park. The results have been spectacular diving in 20 meters visibility and 22 degree celsius water. The dive groups have been treated to a whale shark, blacktips, duskies, raggies, a lone bull and a big female tiger. The tiger looks to be an early arrival from the summer girl group and has been in the area for two weeks now.

Allen Walker has some fun while editing his shots of the Wallabies!

2010-09-01T09:59:00.000+02:00

Allen Walker took the photographs of the Wallabies at Shark Park yesterday and whilst editing thought he would have some fun!

Ill Baby Whale washes up

2010-09-01T09:17:00.000+02:00

A baby Humpack whale that had been noticibly weak since Sunday was washed up yesterday and had to be euthanaised. There have been a few strandings this year and the trend is set to continue as the population frequenting our coast continues to increase.

Wallabies Rock Shark Park

2010-09-01T09:10:00.000+02:00

The Wallaby Rugby team visited the sharks of Shark Park yesterday. They were an awsome bunch of guys and even though the conditions were not great with six meters visibility and a fifteen knot north easterly that had blown for 48hrs the guys fronted up and had fun.

After 5 months on the road!

2010-08-16T09:48:00.000+02:00

The Shark Park blog has been silent for nearly five months while the crew at Blue Wilderness embarked on a multitude of exciting projects. The projects ranged from a fundraising expedition around the coast of South Africa to raise money and awareness for cancer in association with Cancer South Africa, Acer Computers and Spar to various film projects and then on to two research and photography expeditions.

The team were also hard at work spreading the message back at home with various educational initiatives with local and distant learners. The Shark Angels Orphan day at Shark Park was just one of these initiatives.

Sharksboard declare war on Sardine Run 2010!!

2010-03-18T18:50:00.000+02:00

In an amazing about turn the Sharksboard have used the excuse of the World Cup Soccer 2010 to buy new nets and hire additional boats to kill sharks over the World Cup soccer showpiece. Due to public pressure in the past, Sharksboard have been forced to remove their gill nets and baited drum lines over this period to avoid the unnecessary killing of dolphins and sharks that follow the sardines up the coast. This directive from Sharksboard flies in the face of South Africa's Tourism authorities who added the shark and whale to South Africa's "Big Five" last year in anticipation of encouraging tourists to come and see these additonal and spectacular marine offerings. We, at Blue Wilderness, have known for a long time that Sharksboard are the enemy of sharks and marine tourism but this news piece flighted on South Africa's E-news and East Coast Radio lays down the gauntlet for all to see.

To make a difference for sharks and tourism go to www.removethenets.com and add your voice.

Finally the good water returns to Shark Park

2010-03-17T19:07:00.000+02:00

After two weeks of very poor visibility and 17 celsius water we have broken through to warm, clean water and good sharks. Today the teams at Shark Park had three tigers, one bull and sixty blacktips. The visibility was 20m and the water temperature a balmy 24 celsius.

Shark Park hosts record setting freedive instructor Hanli Prinsloo!

2010-03-02T20:47:00.000+02:00

Multiple South African freedive record holder and freedive instructor Hanli Prinsloo is back at Shark Park conducting her very successful freedive courses. The team had a phenomenal day with the sharks today. In all three species were spotted: bull, tiger and blacktip. All of the candidates did extremely well and the week ahead looks amazing so we are expecting the courses to be a resounding success.

Whale Sharks galore at Shark Park

2010-02-22T19:53:00.000+02:00

The teams at Shark Park have been royally entertained by good numbers of whale sharks over the last few months but this past week saw teams diving with two to six sharks per outing. The teams also encountered a school of baitfish being predated upon by four gar fish.

Waikato Chiefs rock Shark Park!

2010-02-10T20:21:00.000+02:00

The Waikato Chiefs Super 14 rugby team dived with the Sharks of Shark Park today and had a tiger and 40 blacktips. The guys were amazing with the sharks and seemed to have a lot of fun despite 25kt winds and 5m visibility. They kick off their Super 14 2010 campaign with a match against the Sharks in Durban on Saturday.

Another Whale Shark washes up dead on the beach at Scottburgh!

2010-02-10T19:11:00.000+02:00

A 5m whale shark has washed up on the point south of Scottburgh. The whale shark had been washed across the point and is currently stuck in a red tape tussle regarding it's disposal. The KZN Wildlife bureacracy have in their wisdom decided to bring a frontend loader onto the beach and cut the whale shark up to take it to a landfill site. Not that our landfill sites are not overflowing with medical waste and the like. Given that the death is a tragedy and also that there is scant if any scientific literature on what scavenges on a dead whale shark it is yet another case of South African custard heads (I mean conservation services) ineptitude. Bear in mind that you may not drive a beach buggy on the beaches in our Marine Protected Area but here our conservation services are sending tons of plant and machinery onto the beach to drag a whale shark ashore and cut it up!!!!

Very positive test with an electrical shark repellant moulded into a surfboard today!

2010-01-27T16:55:00.000+02:00

Today might be the most significant day in a long while for South Africa's sharks and surfers. We completed the first in an exhaustive battery of tests to come, but I am hugely optimistic that we may be on the right track. This unit is much smaller than any I have tested in the past but packs quite a punch and in the highly antagonistic baited environment that we tested it the sharks left the bait alone. This is a great start.... just maybe we can get rid of the nets now.

Shark Park teams interact with five species of shark in one day:

2010-01-26T09:36:00.000+02:00

The Shark Park teams have had some amazing diving in crystal clear water! Sunday's shark nuts had five species of shark on their day: white tip, blacktip, tiger, raggie and whale shark. This good water has increased the available shark species to view and the great weather is allowing us long days at sea to enjoy.

Tiger Tribe benefit from higher water temperatures!

2010-01-20T20:59:00.000+02:00

The Tiger Tribe are making an appearance more regularly as the water warms up. We have had up to four tigers in a day but they are still some way from showing any intention to feed. The Shark Park team worked with the Natal Sharks Super 14 squad on camp in the midlands splendour of Michael House School. The guys were in awesome shape and look to be a force during the upcoming Super 14. We are going to be working with the team on various shark issues over the year and this will help to make a huge difference to the conservation of sharks at Shark Park.
The Shark Route team had an awesome day at Protea Banks with cinematographer Charles Maxwell getting some unbelievable Bull shark footage in 20m visibility. The team had between seven and nine bulls around them at any one time.

Shark Park teams have an amazing December and great start to the New Year!

2010-01-04T09:05:00.000+02:00

Despite the loss of one of our valued members of the "Tiger Tribe" to the reprehensible shark nets we have had an awesome December of diving with sharks. The visibility has been excellent and although cloud cover and seasonal light rains didn't add much to the images taken the shark activity was awesome. We still have over 30 raggies on the reef, a group of three whitetips on the Pinnacles, a regular bull shark at feedings, between one and four tigers, good numbers of blacktips, duskies and between one two and six whale sharks per launch.

Shark Park'sTiger Tribe is lonelier this Christmas!

2009-12-26T20:37:00.000+02:00

A tiger shark was killed in the Scottburgh shark nets on Christmas Day. The animal was rotting when we got to her and managed to cut her out andd tow her offshore to avoid multiple mortalities by the morning. probably what Sharks Board were hoping for sothat they could sell more shark products under the guise of bather protection and marine research!

Shark Park hosts shark scientist Dr. Malcolm Smale!

2009-12-13T06:39:00.000+02:00

The team at Shark Park hosted South Africa's premier shark scientist Dr Malcolm Smale yesterday. The team assisted the good doctor with size estimations of raggies on the Aliwal Shoal. The conditions were fantastic with warm 23 degree celsius water and 15m-20m visibility. After the work was done the team headed off to see the other stars of Shark Park and had 30 blacktips, two duskies and one shy tiger shark.

Visibility returns to Shark Park!

2009-12-08T10:03:00.000+02:00

The team at Shark Park had a breakthrough in visibility this week and although the temperature is on the low side we are definitely heading for better days. There have been a few interactions with tigers bu on the whole none of them have been what we are used to and hopefully if the water warms up we will see them back at their best.
The Shark Park team hosted the Rhodes University Underwaterclub this past week and the crew had some memorable diving in the great conditions. On their last day they had a tiger, bull, duskies and blacktips for company.

Shark Park plays host to an amazing array of natural history celebrities!

2009-11-25T18:27:00.000+02:00

The team at Shark Park have hosted Steve Backshall from the BBC series "Deadly 60" and just two days agoplayed host to natural history icon Nigel Marven and his team from the new age web adventure http://www.webosaurs.com/ . The conditions have been tough but we have had upto six species of shark on a dive and although visibility has been poor the animals are clearly back in the area. The sharks spotted were: duskies, blacktips, Zambezi, tiger, raggies and hammerhead. With the good numbers of whale sharks on the coast currently the summer could sizzle with sharks. It must be said though that water temperatures have been unseasonaly low.

Shark Park hosts an impressive line up of luxury yacht owners and crew!

2009-11-19T11:21:00.000+02:00

The team at Shark Park have been privileged to host a number of VIP's over the last two weeks. Unfortunately the weather and water didn't play the game and we had no tigers. The crews were however entertained by the ever present blacktip pack. On many occasions we had four species of shark on a day: raggie, dusky, blacktip and whale shark.

Blue Wilderness team in Europe and the U.K. - like fish out of water!

2009-10-27T08:52:00.000+02:00

The team from Blue Wilderness, lead by Mark and Gail Addison, headed for Europe last week where they were hosted in Belgium by Steven Van De Voorde and his wife Elke from Wild Water. Steve and his team were incredible and the setting for our talk was the fantastic Aquatopia Aquarium in Antwerp. Steve spoilt us rotten and it was with a heavy heart that we left. Thanks so much to all of the incredible people we met - Belgium rocks and we will be back! Special thanks to Francois and Bert - the heart and soul of Steve's team - for a great time. A warning to any South African wanting to drink Belgian beer - it kicks!!

After a brief meeting with legendary Belgian freediver and all time nice guy Fred Buyle at Brussels airport, it was off to Birmingham in the U.K. for the Dive Show 2009. The show organisers, Diver Magazine, put on an incredible show and the resounding success of the show will no doubt make a huge contribution to lifting the spirits in these tough economic times.

The highlight of the show, for us, was the legendary Captain Paul Watson of Sea Shepherd and his inspirational, passionate and insightful speech. The Captain galvanised the audience into action and there is no doubt that our oceans and its inhabitants need him to succeed in his mission.

From a Blue Wilderness perspective, the conservation bodies exhibiting at the show all did a fantastic job and it is great to see this vital work in such good hands. Having said that, they all need our help - so don't just sit back and expect things to happen - get involved!

Marshall Law returns to Shark Park:

2009-10-18T20:35:00.000+02:00

Swimming sensation Peter Marshall returned to Shark Park after nearly a year today. Pete had set the world shortcourse record for the 50m backstroke at the Fina World Swimming Championship meet in Durban less than 24hrs ago. The team at Shark Park applaud Pete on his success and wish him well with his swmming in the future.

Pete enjoyed the sharks at Shark Park around the same time last year and he organised a huge contingent of international swimmers to join him this year or a day of fun.

The weather was fair and the visibility good as the swimmers had a great time in the water with the sharks.

Billy Bates celebrates his birthday with the Blacktip Pack at Shark Park!

2009-10-13T18:54:00.000+02:00

Billy video's one of the Blacktip Pack on his birthday dive at Shark Park:

The team at Shark Park hosted Dave (aka "Billy") Bates at Shark Park for his 68th Birthday dive. "Billy", as he is affectionately known to the dive community and kids, drives down from Johannesburg to Aliwal every weekend and has done for an eternity. Billy is a diving legend in South Africa and his passion for diving has not dimmed over the years. Happy Birthday Billy and I am sure you have another 68 in you. The team didn't have great visibility but the 40 blacktips more than made up for it. The team had awesome whale and dolphin encounters to and from the dive site.

Tigers back at Shark Park and the Blacktip pack healing up nicely after the fishing onslaught!

2009-09-29T17:01:00.000+02:00

The shark diving at Shark Park has been rather sporadic with the prevailing weather pattern. Those times that we have been to sea have offered some fun dives and great shark interactions. With the low water temperatures we have had tigers but the interactions have been a far cry from the warmer water activity. Still, we have had tigers, duskies and blacktips as the players. The Blacktip pack are healing up quite well from the fihing onslaught and we are always amazed at the healing power of sharks.

KZN Sharksboard kill two white sharks and sardines in KZN on their return south

2009-09-07T21:54:00.000+02:00

The Sardines made a welcome return to KZN beaches over the last week on their journey south. The teams at Shark Park have had great dives with the Blacktips, duskies and odd tiger this past week but the really sad news is that Sharksboard senselessly killed two white sharks at their Zinkwazi installation last week. The two sharks were caught on separate days and measured 4.4m and 2.8m respectively.

Shark park delivers four species of shark in a day:

2009-09-01T14:45:00.000+02:00

The activity at Shark Park has been good for this time of year and helped no doubt by a better weather pattern so far this year compared to last year. The water temperature dropped to a chilly 15 celsius and this scared the living daylights out of the tigers. So far only one little girl has made it back and she is very shy. The good news however is that the Blacktip numbers are still at maximum, the duskies have arrived and although the raggie numbers are no where near the hundred or so of last year we are regularly seeing more than twenty.

One of the highlights of the last few weeks has been being involved in the East Coast Radio ( www.ecr.co.za ) competition "Durban's No.1 Dare". Each contestant has to face their fear and conquer it. This competition is a celebration of the woman in our community for Woman's Month. Kajal Parsuram had a fear of the open ocean and to top it all we added 30 blacktips to put her under even more pressure. Kajal did extremely well in 25kt winds and raging seas with the blacktip pack bumping her and brushing past her. You can vote for Kajal on www.ecr.co.za .

Special thanks to the team at East Coast Radio, Jeep Apparel (always) Sijmon de Waal and the rest of the Blue Wilderness team for making this such a fun day.

Great weekend at Shark Park with some special guests!

2009-08-03T10:19:00.000+02:00

The team at Shark Park had some fun this weekend and were privileged to host Ocean Warrior and living legend Matt Bouman with his equally famous lifesaving partner Kristy Kuhlmey. The duo had great fun with the blacktips and are great advocates for shark conservation.

On this day we also had the Belgium gran-Ma/grandchild duo of Nicole Huynen and Estelle Gerard. Gran-Ma Huynen has taken 12 year old Estelle on an African Expedition to see the iconic animals of Africa. The duo have racked up not only the terrestrial big five (and about 200 others) but also the marine addition to South Africa's Big Seven - being the whale and the shark.

Estelle did very well and I am sure that we are going to hear great things of this young animal activist in years to come.

Russell Sadler took the pictures!

Sardines netted at Shark Park

2009-07-29T15:52:00.000+02:00

The sardine netters had some good fortune this week when small pockets of sardines have been netted on the coast and in the vicinity of Shark Park. The biomass is unfortunately tiny but none the less has provided for much excitement for beachgoers.

Shark Route teams back from Sardine Run 2009 so work begins in earnest at Shark Park!

2009-07-22T09:22:00.000+02:00

The Blue Wilderness teams on Sardine Run 2009 are back at Shark Park and heading out to sea tomorrow - weather permitting. In water conditions at Shark Park have been variable of late, with the expected lower temperatures at this time of year and variable visibility. The surface conditions have been fantastic and it is certainly one of the mildest winters for a few seasons.The raggies are putting on a fine show and the blacktips have dominated most days interactions at Shark Park with the tigers playing second fiddle.

Shark Park rocks and Shark Route teams put the Goodwill Camera to good use!

2009-07-09T19:28:00.000+02:00

The teams at Shark Park have had great conditions with flat balmy winter days and good clean water. The tigers have only made a few cameo appearances but the Blacktips and raggies have more than made up for this.

The team on Shark Route had a phenomenal day on Sardine Run 2009 and the "Goodwill Camera" was hard at work in an effort to further our scientific understanding of how Brydes whales feed!

Shark Park teams have good conditions and good sharks while Shark Route teams have an amazing day!

2009-06-24T07:46:00.000+02:00

The teams at Shark Park have had great conditions and good sharks. The current has been incredibly strong but the perfect weather and bonus whale encounters have more than made up for this.

The teams on Sardine Run 2009 had an amazing day yesterday and you can see the full report on: http://sharkroute.blogspot.com

Shark Park teams take advantage of great conditions!

2009-06-20T09:06:00.000+02:00

The teams at Shark Park have had awesome conditions and great sharks for this past week. The visibility has been between 20m - 30m and the shark activity has been phenomenal with up to 60 blacktips and three tigers the order of most days. The whale activity to and from the dive site has been incredible and really highlighted that this time of year offers so much.

The Carte Blanche team have been with the Shark Route teams on Sardine Run 2009 and although this has been a quiet year so far the team still managed to get some amazing footage. See their report at http://sharkroute.blogspot.com

Shark Park has tigers, blacktips, raggies and excellent visibility!

2009-06-17T15:58:00.000+02:00

The team at Shark Park have had excellent visibility, great sharks and even close encounters with the migrating Humpback whales. The team have been interacting with up to sixty blacktip sharks, between one and four tigers and between four and twelve ragged tooth sharks.

The teams on Shark Route have had another awesome day today with sardine action. See their report at http://sharkroute.blogspot.com/ . Mark Van Coller took all of the above pictures. Note staff member Steve Benjamin with a poor seal imitation in the third image.

Shark Park teams have fun with three species of shark while Shark Route teams have another massive day with sardine action!

2009-06-14T07:27:00.000+02:00

The Shark Park teams had three tigers, sixty blacktips and a lone bull shark yesterday. The visibility was 12m and water temperature 22 celsius. Meanwhile the Shark Route teams had another phenomenal day on Sardine Run 2009. See their report http://sharkroute.blogspot.com

Still waiting for the authorities to get their heads out of the sand to get the whale carcass offshore but Sardine Teams hit it huge!

2009-06-12T15:28:00.000+02:00

Another frustrating day in which the authorites drink coffee and make no decision on getting the dead whale off the beach. The shark numbers are increasing and the stench is nearing unbearable for beach goers.

The Shark Route teams on Sardine Run have had a massive day with baitballs deluxe. The full spectrum of baitball activity with sharks, dolphins, gannet and Brydes whales greeted the team today and their will be many weary bodies tonight. For the full story check http://sharkroute.blogspot.com

A Grey day for a whale!

2009-06-11T11:02:00.000+02:00

The team from Shark Park arrived at the stranding site early this morning to a windless but grey day. The small Humpback had been battered against the rocks to seaward and sand to the shore side and is beginning to smell. A small shark has bitten a piece out of the enormous tail. We are awaiting authorisation to tow it offshore and let the sharks dispose of it.

Dead Humpback Whale carcass washes up on KZN beach:

2009-06-10T18:59:00.000+02:00

The team at Blue Wilderness have just come back from an early evening sighting of a dead Humpback whale washing in the waves on a KZN south coast beach. It was too late for anything other than a cursory inspection and hopefully more will become apparent tomorrow morning. Hopefully we can tow it offshore and see what comes in to feed.

The day the Springbok Rugby Team came to Shark Park!

2009-06-10T16:14:00.000+02:00

The Springbok Rugby team came to Shark Park yesterday as part of their build up preparations for the upcoming Lions Test Series.The team had no idea that they were going to be freediving with sharks until they arrived at Shark Park. There was a hushed silence when Gail gave her briefing and groans of disbelief when they were told to don the wetsuits that were kindly donated to the event by Quiksilver. Once in the water the guys were amazing and by the smiles on their faces seemed to really enjoy themselves.

Once word was out the kids arrived on the beach in droves to get a picture or autograph with the World Champions and they were not disappointed by their rugby heroes.

Best of luck to the Springboks for the upcoming test series and thanks for Giving Sharks a Chance from the staff at Blue Wilderness.

Shark Route teams hit it Big on Sardine Run!

2009-06-08T19:35:00.000+02:00

The Sardine Run teams out of East London had a tremendous day today with a pod of eight orcas feeding on common dolphin. The team were able to film this amazing event both inwater and from the surface. In the water the team had dusky sharks trying to steal the carcass from the orcas. Blue Wilderness team member Steve Benjamin witnessed and photographed the event.

The Hoff Rocks Shark Park!

2009-06-04T20:06:00.000+02:00

Actor and adventurer extraordinaire - David Hasselhoff - came to Shark Park to campaign for an end to shark finning with the http://www.underwaterchannel.tv/ . Nicholoas Claxton is the man behind the http://www.underwaterchannel.tv/ and he put the whole programme together at incredibly short notice. David's time at Shark Park was nothing short of amazing with the team having ten tiger sharks, half a dozen raggies and well over one hundred blacktips over the three days. the visibility was excellent and the water a balmy 24 degrees celsius. The weather played its part and hopefully David's message will be well received around the world.

For those fans wanting to know what he was like both in the water and out:

He was amazing and a natural. Shark Park was filled with fans of the "Hoff" and he didn't dissappoint, signing autographs for each and every one despite a hectic schedule.

A huge debt of gratitude from all of us at Blue Wilderness to "The Hoff" for giving sharks a chance!!!!

On the way to the beach today: A sad tale

2009-05-30T22:24:00.000+02:00

Despite a great day at Shark Park a terrible environmental disaster was unfolding in the Cape. Steve Benjamin was on hand to try to rescue about 50 false killer whales which had stranded. The failing of the environmental agencies involved were spectacular and unfortunately the animals were all shot. A highly unsatisfactory outcome for the 1000 plus volunteers who tried to save the whales.

The teams at Shark Park have good tigers, blacktips and raggies!

2009-05-28T06:21:00.000+02:00

The teams at Shark Park have had excellent tiger, blacktip and raggie action over the last two weeks. The arrival of a new batch of raggies to shore up the raggies that have been here all year must have been a welcome company. This is the first time in twenty years that I have been diving on Aliwal that I have had raggies year round.

The blacktip numbers have been impressive and although the tiger sightings are lower than in previous years we have some great players who are keeping the camera's clicking.

The current has been strong north to south and the water temperature a warm 24 celsius with excellent visibility. The sea surface has been very kind and we have had the opportunity of spending long days at sea with the sharks which has been a huge bonus to Blue Wilderness clients.

The Goodwill Camera strikes again!

2009-05-12T06:28:00.000+02:00

The team at Shark Park had a phenomenal day yesterday. At a point in the day they had four species of shark around them at one time (three of which were captured in the same frame) - notably: whale shark, tiger shark, bull shark and blacktip shark. The three species captured in a single frame were the whale shark, tiger and blacktip. The visibility was exceptional and the team added a manta and 5 raggies for good measure. The visibility was in excess of 30m and the water temperature a balmy 25 celsius!

Warratahs visit Shark Park!

2009-05-08T17:52:00.000+02:00

A few members of the New South Wales Warratahs Rugby Team visited Shark Park during the week and seemed to enjoy their shark sightings. The group were headed by legendary Wallaby prop Al Baxter. The Blacktip and tiger sightings have been good. Raggies are back on the reef in good numbers (although it must be said that a handful never left this past year). The only disappointment has been the poor visibility and generally low water temperatures for this time of year. The news that small pilot shoals of sardines were sighted as high up as Coffee Bay is good news with the bulk of the activity still south of Port Alfred. For Sardine Run updates see what our http://sharkroute.blogspot.com teams are up to from the first week in June.

Shark Park teams have lots of Tiger shark and Blacktip action with a guest appearance by a Striped Marlin!

2009-04-27T16:13:00.002+02:00

The teams at Shark Park have had some great conditions and although the tigers have been shy on occasion the shark activity has been excellent. It must be mentioned that this is our peak season and thus this is to be expected. the team had a fantastic sighting of a striped marlin of about 80kg's yesterday.

While the Shark Park teams have had great diving the Shark Route team went up to a new location in Mozambique for some exciting diving. Catch their full report at http://sharkroute.blogspot.com and see the fantastic location at www.mahangate.co.za

Rough seas at Shark Park but Canterbury Crusaders Rugby team have great fun:

2009-04-15T21:28:00.002+02:00

The Canterbury Crusaders Rugby Team had a tough day at Shark Park. The wind was around twenty knots and running directly into the current making the sea a mess. The team were real troopers and played with three tigers and over twenty blacktips. The wind, however got the better of us but the guys all seemed to have had some fun. Julie Andersen of Shark Savers gave a fantastic presentation on the plight of sharks to round the day off.

Fantastic conditions continue at Shark Park:

2009-04-14T11:12:00.002+02:00

The Easter Weekend delivered phenomenal visibility and excellent shark activity for all at Shark Park. After all of the years of operating on the coast this was finally an Easter Weekend to remember. We had visibility in excess of 30m and although we had two days of uncomfortable winds the Sunday was unbelievably calm. With the combination of excellent visibility and shark activity it was easy to forget the bouncy boat rides.

Shark Park has fantastic visibility and the sharks are great:

2009-04-08T17:10:00.002+02:00

The water temperature (26 celsius) and visibility (30m) at Shark Park are phenomenal at the moment. The current has picked up to a strong north to south and we are revelling in the exceptional conditions and great shark activity.

Great sharks and great visibility continue at Shark Park:

2009-04-01T13:21:00.005+02:00

The team at Shark Park have been spoilt rotten with fantastic visibility and anything from five to nine tiger sharks as well as up to sixty blacktips.

Fantastic tigers/blacktips at Shark Park but even better visibility!

2009-03-29T17:08:00.002+02:00

The great news at Shark Park is the fantastic visibility of the last week. The pulse of warm clean water brought with it the tiger tribe. We have had resightings of Isabella, Snowflake and Heloise as well as numerous new arrivals. The phenomenal tiger shark activity has been complimented by over sixty blacktips and super flat seas.

Shark Park sees the return of Isabella and Shark Route teams still having fun amid tough conditions!

2009-03-17T11:17:00.004+02:00

The teams at Shark Park had a pleasant return visit from one of our smaller tiger tribe girls: Isabella. She was quite friendly and spent just over an hour with the group. The visibility has not been good (2m-5m) and the bottom temperature quite chilly at between 15 and 17 celsius. A big south wester came through today and things are already looking up for tomorrow.

Meanwhile the teams on Shark Route have had to travel far and wide for success and the cow sharks (pictures above by Sijmon De Waal) have been a distinct highlight for clients.

On a more sombre note: we at Blue Wilderness are saddened to hear that Wolfgang Leander has taken ill. Wolfgang was about to board a plane to join us in South Africa. He is the best friend the sharks have and we wish him a speedy recovery. Wolfgang's tireless work to conserve sharks is well known and a voice we cannot do without. Get well soon Old Wolf!

Teams at Shark Park rack up five species for the week!

2009-03-13T12:37:00.002+02:00

The team at Shark Park struggled with visibility all week but we still managed to have tigers, bulls, blacktips, raggies and a whale shark. The water temperature has been 25 celsius plus for the week, except for a slight drop in the thermocline which moved up and down the water column depending on the strength of the north easterly wind.

Shark Route teams have a great day off Cape Point and Shark Park is rocking!

2009-03-09T17:53:00.002+02:00

The team at Shark Park had four tigers and 40 blacktips today. Visibility was approximately 15m and water temperature a warm 25 celsius. The seas have calmed down nicely and the current is strong south to north. This strong current has reduced any possibility of river influence on our visibility in the short term.

The Shark Route teams had a good day at Cape Point but are still battling with high winds and poor visibility on occasion. See their report at http://sharkroute.blogspot.com

Shark Park teams battle with River water but the sharks don't care!

2009-03-03T18:43:00.002+02:00

The teams at Shark Park had a bull shark, a tiger and approximately 40 blacktips yesterday. The visibility started at 5m and dropped to 1m once the river water moved over. The days have been sublime but with over 100mm of rain in 24hrs and no current we have had the curse of the river water over the dive area. The water temperature is a balmy 25 celsius.

Shark Route teams battle the weather and water but the sharks are still the stars:

2009-02-26T06:43:00.004+02:00

The Blue Wilderness Shark Route teams are spread over the length and breadth of the country. The southern teams have battled weather and visibility but have been rewarded with baitball activity with Copper and Dusky sharks, raggies, endemic cat sharks, smooth hound sharks and even a yellow bellied seasnake!
The northern teams had great diving at Sodwana with raggies, reef sharks and whale sharks the order of the day. The weather was torrid but water visibility excellent. The northern teams are at Shark Park from today and hope for a break in the weather to be entertained by the sharks of Shark Park.

Shark Park has tigers and blacktips today!

2009-02-19T17:55:00.003+02:00

The Shark Park team had great sharks today: Three tigers and 40 blacktips. The best news is that the visibility is on the mend and the water temperature is above 24 celsius from bottom to top - this is great news for the tigers.

The Blue Wilderness Shark route teams are fanning out around the country on their Cape to Kosi Bay Shark Epic. The teams aim to rack up as many shark species as possible on their trips which last ten to fourteen days. Lots of pressure but hopefully the weather and sharks play ball.

Despite some atricious weather the sharks are still the stars:

2009-02-17T10:02:00.002+02:00

The team at Shark Park had to launch through pretty tough conditions on the weekend to get their reward. The seas were huge as the result of a cut off low pressure system and the fading effects of a cyclone in the Mozambique channel. The team had the usual number of blacktips (30/40) and were entertained by up to three tigers and as many bull sharks. The bull shark activity is really encouraging as we have battled historically to get them to interact with the divers here at Shark Park - quite the opposite of places like the Pinnacle in southern Mozambique or Protea Banks on the KZN south coast.

Shark Park has great tigers and Shark Route teams racking up the species!

2009-02-09T16:58:00.002+02:00

The team at Shark Park have had great tiger shark activity albeit in poor visibility. The girls are all repeat sharks from previous years and also as recently as the last few months. A case in point is "Snowflake" who was last spotted on the 2nd December 2008 and was back with us on the 7th February 2009.

The black tip numbers are high and although the visibility has been poor the activity has been fantastic.

The Shark Route teams are doing very well and the Sub Parma group have surpassed the ten species mark in just six days of diving. See http://sharkroute.blogspot.com for their full report.

Cold water puts temporary halt to tiger activity:

2009-01-27T09:08:00.003+02:00

The tiger shark activity of the last week ended yesterday when the team were faced with very cold and dirty water. The blacktips were still performing at their best but the next two days look like the poor visibility will continue. There is light on the horizon for the weekend as the weather looks set to improve and with that the water.

The ragged tooth sharks are still to be seen on Aliwal and this has proven to be a great bonus to our divers and adds another species to our hitlist of sharks on show at this time of year at Shark Park.

Tiger numbers still good but mating activity with the blacktips most interesting!

2009-01-20T06:30:00.002+02:00

The team at Shark Park have still got great visibility and good tigers. We had four tigers over the weekend as well as the usual numbers of Blacktips. The mating scars on certain female Blacktips are interesting as we only see females during the day and yet the mating scars are quite fresh. Where are the males??

Back on line and the tiger tribe returns!

2009-01-15T05:33:00.002+02:00

The past few weeks have been hectic for those of us at Blue Wildeness and the loss of our internet for a while added to a computer glitch meant a lack of blog updates.

The conditions have improved significantly since the last update and we have been enjoying fantastic visibility (between 15m and 40m). The water temperatures have been consistently above 23 celsius (in fact reaching 26 celsius for the most part). There has still been a thermocline but this seems to have had less and less an effect on the tiger tribe. We are seeing up to five tigers at a time now and some of the old regulars have returned."Snowflake" was around in early December and now we have "Mathilda" back. There are at least two others who are returns from last year.

The blacktip numbers are up to between 40 ad 60 per dive but the duskies are down to one or two. Another strange feature is that the raggies are still here - we probably owe this to the remaining thermocline but only time will tell. The whale sharks have been slow and we are seeing the odd hammerhead and bull shark.

All in all fantastic to have things return to normal after a long break. We were very fortunate to have some amazing people with us over the holiday period and it was even more amazing to be able to show them our marine team at their best.

Dan Rawson (our Botswana crocodile and hippo - underwater man) and his family spent some time with us and it was great to show Dan our tribe.
The newly wed Cooper's (Jon and Sarah) from the UK also had a great time with the blacktips and tigers in some great visibility and calm seas (Jon is the generous man who has donated a few D70's, lenses and housing to our shark identification programme, Jon has also just donated a D200, lenses, strobe and housing - another Subal!! - to the programme after our last "Goodwill camera" got eaten).
Sijmon De Waal and Debbie Millin were back for a week or two and we had a great time with Sijmon who brought back a 10.5mm lens for the "Goodwill" camera collection.

As the Shark Park team gear up for an exciting season so do the Shark Route teams get ready for the activity at other locations along our amazing coastline. Follow their activity at http://sharkroute.blogspot.com

There is good news, bad news and the worst kind of news!

2008-12-22T19:43:00.002+02:00

After a period off air when technologically nothing would go right we at Shark Park got back online to a mixed day. Firstly, the visibility and water temperature have been miserably low of late and seemed to have chased all of the tiger tribe away. The good news is that the raggies are still here and we saw two whale sharks today.The terrible news is that whilst Blue Wilderness staffer, Steve Benjamin, was doing an educational trip with a group of school children he found a dead pregnant female ragged tooth shark in the shark nets off Scottburgh.This is one of nearly 10 000 such harmless raggies caught in the nets since meshing began.

Today the bull sharks went surfing!

2008-12-08T20:19:00.002+02:00

The team at Shark Park had a busy day preparing for the season. A call came in at around 17h30 that the bull sharks were playing in the Umkomaas River mouth and some of us headed down to watch the action.

Shark Park hosts Dr Malcolm Smale for a day of fun:

2008-12-08T08:25:00.003+02:00

The team at Shark Park had a fun day at sea yesterday. Sijmon De Waal and Dr Malcolm Smale spent a relaxing day at sea with the staff of Blue Wilderness. The team spotted a 150kg black marlin whilst snorkelling plus dolphin, plus wahoo, plus yellowfin tuna and so the list goes on.

The blacktips and duskies were great and one tiger shark was spotted. Malcolm had a dive with the raggies and the team returned with big smiles.

Our regional Sunday paper picked up on the amazing efforts of Cedric Mkize with his freediving exploits of the previous week. It is still sinking in that this remarkable young man managed to pull himself up and down a rope to 26.4m without assistance - and this whilst being paralysed from the waist down.

Blue Wilderness salutes Cedric Mkhize on this international day of the disabled:

2008-12-03T19:36:00.002+02:00

The staff at Blue Wilderness would like to wish Cedric and all people with a disability a great day filled with positive thoughts for their hopes and aspirations. We salute Cedric for his warrior spirit and exceptional freediving talent. More importantly Cedric showed us all that there are no disabilities just different abilities!

Shark Park still on song:

2008-12-01T14:48:00.002+02:00

The team at Shark Park have continued to have great diving with the blacktips and dusky sharks at Shark Park. Our dominant return tiger shark of the moment is Snowflake and she has been a real player. The visibility over the last few days has been between 10m and 15m with water temperatures on the rise and between 23 and 24 celsius. We are still awaiting the arrival of our first whale sharks but the raggies are still around and keeping us entertained.

The staff are still trying to digest the amazing moments of Friday when paraplegic Cedric Mkhize had an amazing experience with our sharks unassisted and reached an international milestone of 26.4m whilst freediving.

Cedric dives into the abyss with the sharks of Shark Park!

2008-11-29T05:49:00.002+02:00

On Friday the 28th of November 2008 ex-rugby star and now paraplegic Cedric Mkhize dived to 26.4m surrounded by the sharks of Shark Park. Cedric has been freediving for three days! After an unfortunate car accident Cedric was paralysed from the waist down in July of 2007.

Cedric's amazing feat was brought about by the vision of Bryn Roberts of Adventures Inc. . Bryn presented the idea to the S.A. Rugby Legends in an effort to get high level involvement in shark conservation and as the Rugby Legends are already heavily involved in the plight of disabled rugby players (among other causes) the match was perfect.

Cedric underwent his freedive training with inspirational freediving coach and multiple South African freedive record holder Hanli Prinsloo. Cedric showed his class with a four minute static breathhold on day one and a 14m freedive in a quarry on day two. Day three was up to Cedric as Hanli had to attend the Cosmopolitan Woman of the Year awards in Johannesburg. The day was an incredible success with the Rugby Legends headed up by John Allan accompanying Cedric to attempt a 12m freedive with the sharks. Cedric blew us all away with a hand over hand descent to 26.4m.A few anxious moments as one of our returning tiger tribe girls - Snowflake followed him on a few of his build up dives. There were also about 30Blacktips and 10Dusky sharks to see Cedric into the unofficial record books.

Cedric proved that there are no disabilities - just different abilities. You are a legend Cedric!An inspiration toall.

Cedric blown off the water today but he went big in the pool!

2008-11-27T19:19:00.002+02:00

The team at Shark Park and Cedric Mkhize were blown off the water today by a big north east wind. This robbed Cedric of his record breaking feat of being the first paraplegic to freedive with the Sharks of Shark Park. Cedric and freedive instructor Hanli Prinsloo went through to Shires Quarry to complete his freedive training. Cedric made 14.6m. He took 1 min 50 sec to achieve the depth and return to the surface. The weather looks better for tomorrow and hopefully Cedric will get to freedive with the sharks of Shark Park.

After all of the bad news some good news!

2008-11-26T19:23:00.003+02:00

The team at Shark Park have had a fantastic week of shark activity with great raggies, exceptional blacktips and duskies - plus a few tigers. The biggest news is the return of Snowflake. Snowflake is one of our return female tigers from last year. She came and played for the camera's today during the filming of an insert for Michelle Garforth-Venter's show Wild Ltd.

We are also only a day away from the introduction of paraplegic ex-rugby star Cedric Mkhize to the Tiger Tribe. Cedric completed his freedive theory and pool session with expert freedive instructor Hanli Prinsloo. Cedric managed an incredible 4 minutes breathold in the pool. Watch this space for Cedric's progress.

After a bad start it gets worse:

2008-11-14T21:28:00.003+02:00

The Sharksboard killed four sharks in the Aliwal Shoal Marine Protected Area today. This absolute travesty continues unabated. Blue Wilderness staff member Steve Benjamin cut one of the animals out of the net but she was already dead. He then took her back to the beach and on reporting this incident to Sharksboard was duly told that because he had cut the animal out of their net he should sort out its disposal. This attitude combined with Sharksbaords attempts this morning to conceal the first two dead tigers is further evidence of the despicable levels that this organisation will go to to conceal their dastardly deeds.

Julie Andersen of http://www.sharksavers.org/ was on hand to help Steve and made some powerful statements - I am sure you will agree!

Sharksboard killing continues today!

2008-11-14T07:13:00.002+02:00

The Sharksboad killed another two tiger sharks today. The Sharksboard attempted to cover the dead sharks with life jackets and nets in an attempt to hide them from public view. The Sharksboard crew physically restrained Steve Benjamin (our staff member who cut free the tiger last time) from taking pictures of this atrocity.

KZN Killing fields:

2008-11-12T18:39:00.003+02:00

The Natal Sharksboard have killed another baby tiger shark and turtle in their netted installation in the Aliwal Shoal Marine Protected Area. The tiger shark was probably caught whilst trying to scavenge on the turtle.

Shark Route teams arrive at St. Francis for Chokka and follow up on a report of a dead ragged tooth shark on the rocks at St. Francis Bay!

2008-11-11T06:31:00.003+02:00

The Shark Route team arrived at St. Francis and were having tea with top marine predator scientist Dr. Malcolm Smale when a call came through that a raggie had washed up dead on the rocks in the Bay. Malcolm took his dissecting kit and went to investigate. We were all saddened to see a dead female raggie lying on the rocks. According to the autopsy she had at least given birth earlier, been tagged in KZN (we will know more about her historic movements soon) and died at the hand of some rock and surf angler. The hooks, trace and bait used to catch her were taken from her stomach by Malcolm.

The Shark Park teams had two tiger sharks yesterday, 25 blacktips and 12 duskies. There was approximately 15m visibility and the water temperature was 22 celsius. The warmer water of the last few days is cooling slightly but it does seem as if another pulse is on its way and the general warm water body has shifted down the coast significantly from the north. We eagerly await our first whalesharks.

Teams at Shark Park have a week filled with sharks:

2008-11-03T08:38:00.008+02:00

The team at Shark Park had busy week last week.The client was Kelvin Joseph from Scubatech and his return crew of Dutch clients. The group had been to S.A. before and are just crazy about sharks. The first day delivered 7 Bullsharks and a Blacktip at Protea Banks. We then moved on to Shark Park which really spoiled us with two tigers and too many blacktips, duskies, hammerheads and raggies to count. The whale, dolphin and other marine fauna of SharkPark put its best foot forward and really entertained the guys. All in all a great week and a big thank you to Kelvin and his team for some memorable moments.

Tiger returns to Shark Park while Shark Route teams have fun with Bull sharks at Protea Banks:

2008-10-27T14:10:00.004+02:00

The teams at Shark Park are back on track with regular sightings of tigers in between the bad weather.The water has improved in both the temperature and visibility departments.Today the team had 1 tiger, 20 blacktipsand 15 duskies. Although the water was cool today at 21 celsius, there have been some warmer pulses that seem to have kicked the tigers back into action.

The Shark Route team had a fun day atProteaBanks on Saturday and had 7 bull sharks and a blacktip.

Tiger today!

2008-10-24T13:07:00.003+02:00

The team at Shark Park had a quick but great shark dive today. The team had 30 Blacktips and 10 Duskies as well a cameo appearance from a tiger. The visibilty was 15m and the water temperature a shade above 22 celsius. The wind came through from the south west and this should keep conditions in the positive.

The bad news!

2008-10-21T15:05:00.005+02:00

Today was a terrible day at Shark Park! The team was informed that a female and male tiger shark were caught in the shark nets this morning. The sharks were dead. Staff member Steve Benjamin went to investigate and took the ghastly pictures.

Steve then went to sea with the rest of the Shark Park team and came across another female tiger shark caught in the nets. Steve set about freeing the animal and resuscitating her. When she was strong enough he swam her down and released her. We hope she will survive.

This ridiculous situation and unnecessary slaughter of all sharks at an institutionalised level has to stop! These sharks pose no risk and yet Sharksboard via a permit exemption from Marine and Coastal Management continue to destroy these majestic animals in the Aliwal Shoal Marine Protected Area and the coast at large!

USA and SA swim team members have fun at Shark Park!

2008-10-21T13:09:00.003+02:00

The team at Shark Park had the privilege of hosting some of the national and international swimmers from the current Fina meet in Durban. Ryk Neethling set the day up and the three team USA swimmers and three team SA swimmers were faced with some rough seas and poor visibility but certainly seemed to enjoy themselves with about 30 blacktip sharks and 10 duskies. We are extremely grateful that such high profile athletes were prepared to give sharks a chance. Our thanks to Samantha Dry, Yolana Du Plessis, Chanelle Van Wyk, Peter Mashall, Randall Bal and Kicker Vencil for a great day.

Finally a tiger shark returns after a long absence!

2008-10-20T16:40:00.002+02:00

The past weekend brought tough weather conditions for the intrepid teams at Shark Park. The team from Reef Check did great work in tough conditions and were rewarded with a sighting of a tiger shark on Sunday after more than a month of no tigers. We are just assessing the images to see whether she is part of the Tiger Tribe or a new addition.

Finally water temperature breaks 22 celsius!

2008-10-13T11:10:00.004+02:00

The water temperature at Shark Park finally rose above the lows of the past month. There is a nice pulse of warm water on its way and perhaps this will see a return of the tiger tribe. After the low visibility of Friday and Saturday the visibility and temperature improved to 20m visibility and 22 celsius on Sunday. The Blacktips and Duskies were there in great numbers but it would be nice for the tigers to return. We wait with bait and breathhold!

The pics are in!

2008-10-05T18:35:00.003+02:00

After one of our girls ate Jon Coopers "Goodwill Camera" I have taken a few pics of the girls in the old 35mm slide format with my Nikonos V. The pics will give you an idea of the latest activity at Shark Park.

The lady on the left is AIDA Freediving Instructor Hanli Prinsloo.