Rare footage of a 4m-plus long great white shark cruising inquisitively below and around divers, a ski-boat and three fishing kayaks off Chintsa West on Sunday, has attracted scientific interest.
It was filmed from 1.5m away by diver Donovan Sims, 41, from the side of the boat with his head under water – until his daughter, Taylor-Rose, 16, and niece, Amy Sims, 14, begged him to stop.
Shark expert at the PE Museum, Dr Malcolm Smale, said the images would help their coastal study of the apex predator.
His preliminary estimation is that no more than 2000 great whites remain in the Indian Ocean. Conservation efforts and climate change are affecting the species. The Aghullas current shifted erratically, snaking away from the continental shelf allowing cooler water, favoured by great whites, to well up.
“There is not much footage available as the water is often not clear. Generally, great whites don’t interact with humans. These are very rare events.”
Sims saw the shark on the sea floor 16m below his boat, Indigo.
“I had just shot a 12kg black steenbras, when I saw a big shark on the bottom. There were so many ragged-tooth sharks around that I was not fazed.
“Five minutes later Hylton Lewis paddled up in a fishing kayak saying a great white had gone under his ski.
“Guys always say every shark they see is a great white, so I didn’t think much of it and continued diving. I shot a yellow belly and as I got back in the boat, Taylor-Rose shouted, ‘Dad! Behind you!’ She said the fin had followed me right to the boat.
“I used my little Fuji underwater camera. I last saw a great white four weeks ago diving off Three Sisters with Gregg Audi. It was 2.5m and came at us six times. This one was more relaxed. It did not pose a threat. It was a large, fat, female shark, and I am not being sexist. It is just the way they are. It was the biggest white I have ever seen in 25 years.” His dive buddy and brother, Troy, said it was bigger than their 4.3m-long boat.
Lewis, 35, a married father with a four-month-old daughter, said the shark had surfaced 150m off Chintsa West. “It circled my boat and that of another kayak fisherman nearby. I pulled my feet out the water. It did a loop and disappeared.”
He paddled into the bay to chat to the Sims party. “Suddenly there was this whooping and squealing as the same shark I saw 45 minutes ago appeared under his boat and hung around for 10 minutes.”
Five hours later he saw it for the third time. “It was definitely hanging around. I dropped my last bait and paddled for shore.”
Kayak fisherman Dave de Coning said they saw the shark and “we got out of there at race pace”.
De Coning said of shark sightings: “It happens. Amen.” — mikel@dispatch.co.za
VIDEO: Close-up film of great white
It was filmed from 1.5m away by diver Donovan Sims, 41, from the side of the boat with his head under water – until his daughter, Taylor-Rose, 16, and niece, Amy Sims, 14, begged him to stop.
Shark expert at the PE Museum, Dr Malcolm Smale, said the images would help their coastal study of the apex predator.
His preliminary estimation is that no more than 2000 great whites remain in the Indian Ocean. Conservation efforts and climate change are affecting the species. The Aghullas current shifted erratically, snaking away from the continental shelf allowing cooler water, favoured by great whites, to well up.
“There is not much footage available as the water is often not clear. Generally, great whites don’t interact with humans. These are very rare events.”
Sims saw the shark on the sea floor 16m below his boat, Indigo.
“I had just shot a 12kg black steenbras, when I saw a big shark on the bottom. There were so many ragged-tooth sharks around that I was not fazed.
“Five minutes later Hylton Lewis paddled up in a fishing kayak saying a great white had gone under his ski.
“Guys always say every shark they see is a great white, so I didn’t think much of it and continued diving. I shot a yellow belly and as I got back in the boat, Taylor-Rose shouted, ‘Dad! Behind you!’ She said the fin had followed me right to the boat.
“I used my little Fuji underwater camera. I last saw a great white four weeks ago diving off Three Sisters with Gregg Audi. It was 2.5m and came at us six times. This one was more relaxed. It did not pose a threat. It was a large, fat, female shark, and I am not being sexist. It is just the way they are. It was the biggest white I have ever seen in 25 years.” His dive buddy and brother, Troy, said it was bigger than their 4.3m-long boat.
Lewis, 35, a married father with a four-month-old daughter, said the shark had surfaced 150m off Chintsa West. “It circled my boat and that of another kayak fisherman nearby. I pulled my feet out the water. It did a loop and disappeared.”
He paddled into the bay to chat to the Sims party. “Suddenly there was this whooping and squealing as the same shark I saw 45 minutes ago appeared under his boat and hung around for 10 minutes.”
Five hours later he saw it for the third time. “It was definitely hanging around. I dropped my last bait and paddled for shore.”
Kayak fisherman Dave de Coning said they saw the shark and “we got out of there at race pace”.
De Coning said of shark sightings: “It happens. Amen.” — mikel@dispatch.co.za
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