Face to Face with Great Whites: Gaansbai, South Africa

I finally faced a fear that had been instilled in me many years ago.

It all began one fateful night when I was about 7 and I watched the movie “Jaws” for the very first time. Despite my father’s attempts to lighten the mood by saying “Make-up!” each time there was a scene with blood, I was frightened to the core. I know I’m not the only one who was affected by that film. I remember being happy when at the end of the movie the guy was able to finally kill the vicious thing. Suddenly I was a fan of wiping out the sharks just so that I could swim in open water with peace of mind. I was so scared of sharks that when I would go swimming in Lake Michigan in the summer I couldn’t shake the paranoia that a 20 foot shark could be lurking just beyond my line of visibility… and that was a lake.

After many years with zero encounters with the great white devils I discovered a program called Shark Week. Ever since then I’ve been much more curious of these massive predators and much less a fan of killing them off. I eventually began thinking logically about the species and came to the obvious realization that when we swim in the ocean we are in their environment. That we should show the most respect to them for the very fact that they are one of the top predators there. I became a fan of the sharks and I want to share with you my first experience of seeing them up close for the first time. Something I never thought I’d have the chance to do.

Then one morning last week I woke up in a magical place in South Africa called Gaansbai. This is the spot that boasts the densest population of great white sharks. It’s also the area where the research teams and film crews from the Discovery Channel come to film the magnificent creatures.

I listened to the instructions on how to properly behave inside of the cage, then loaded onto the boat and headed out to the prime location.

This video should explain pretty well how the experience was:

It was amazing. I left with adrenaline coursing through my veins and wishing I could be out there all day… and the next.

The company through which I booked this dive educated us about the species and how the population here in South Africa is actually declining with only 500-350 left in the entire area. Although they attracted the sharks with bait, they never used nets, hooks or captured them in any way, they allowed the sharks to swim away from the boat if they so desired and we never made any contact whatsoever with the sharks.
Of course humans do playing a major role with the decline of the population. As if pollution isn't bad enough, the great whites have died from being caught in nets put in place to keep humans safe, and trophy hunting these animals have all played a nasty part in majorly hurting the population.

I know that this activity of cage diving with the great whites is quite controversial, but I came away with this experience with a much greater respect and understanding of these great ocean predators and I want to use this platform to educate others of the declining numbers and to become ambassadors for the great whites.