As we headed for Robben Island where Mandela stayed.
Onto our lines we hooked on our bait,
With the seven gill sharks we made a date.
They fell for our charm and devilish good looks,
Until we had their data signed in our books
Into their abdomen we inserted a tag,
To track every place their tails would wag.
The date was short it was time to go,
With a push and a shove we said later bro.
No time to be sad no time to despair,
Because date number two was already there.
We repeated the process and by the end of the day,
We had lots of sharks being tagged on their way.
The cherry on top of Tim’s birthday cake,
Was seeing dolphins and whales in the boat’s wake.
In wonder we watched as the sun receded,
Content and happy with expectations exceeded.
Lani van Niekerk & Shruthi Vijayakumar
Sailing is hard work!
Arriving at the anchoring spot next to Robben Island.
Putting bait on the line to attract broadnose seven gill sharks.
Our first catch! A male broadnose sevengill shark that is 1.9 metres in length.
The shark is brought on board in order to complete the tagging procedure. In order to keep the shark in good shape we keep water running through its mouth and over the gills so that the shark can continue breathing.
This species of shark has seven gills, whereas most species only have five gills.
The shark is held down to prevent it from thrashing and causing injuries. We then measure its length and girth.
A small incision is made in the shark’s abdomen. An audio tag is placed under the skin in order to track the shark’s movements. These tags communicate with receivers that are on the ocean floor. The receivers are retrieved and the data gets downloaded and used to analyse behavioural patterns.
The last step is to gently remove the hook from the shark’s mouth.
The shark is lowered back into the water in a hammock. It is important to ensure that the shark is in a good enough shape to swim away by itself. The tagging process is then completed.
What a beautiful place to be anchored for the night!
The Pole2Pole Shark Project is underway! With the team all together, piled into the Mercedes Benz G-Wagons, we made our way from Pangaea along the Cape Peninsula to Fishhoek Beach, the home of the Shark Spotters.
Fishhoek was once a hotspot of white shark attacks in South Africa, but the the Shark Spotters pioneered environmentally-friendly and proactive methods for dealing with this issue. As opposed to lethal, expensive, and often ineffective shark culls as a response to shark bites, the Shark Spotters minimise the risk of a shark encounter by simply keeping watch on the ocean from the nearby mountains and clearing the waters when a shark poses a risk to swimmers.
Established in 2004 as a result of public pressure on the Western Cape Government, the Shark Spotters Programme employs 30 spotters to monitor the waters of surrounding beaches for shark activity. The team made their way up to one of the Shark Spotters huts which is raised 90m above the popular Muizenburg beach. The job requires extreme patience and in-depth knowledge on what to look for and what to do.
After a quick surf, we made our way back to Kalk Bay to visit the newly upgraded and highly interactive Save Our Seas Shark Education Centre. It was fantastic to see an organisation doing proactive marine conservation with local schools and we all learnt something new about shark species from around the world.
& the Pole2Pole Shark Project begins!!! We are so excited to be on board Pangaea and kick start this exciting project. But first things first! Delegate boat chores and tasks, clean the deck, and go through the equipment.
