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| Lighthouse at Danger Point which juts out 8 km into the sea. |
British troopship, HMS Birkenhead ran aground here in 1852. Only 193 people survived. |
Setting your sight on the wreck of the Birkenhead. |
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| Curling sea power as we hike to the very tip of the point. Fields of Fynbos and milkwood surrounded us. |
Looking back toward the light house. |
I can't imagine trying to get ashore here! |
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| A surreal landscape lies just behind the crashing waves! |
A lovely little sea pond. |
Ocean rivers |
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| And a waterfall... |
Entering the light house - the watch dog! |
Heading to the top. |
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| A small display boat near Kleinbaai where the boats launch in Gansbaai's new harbor. It's only 5 minutes from Gansbaai! |
Another fisherman display just outside the small Kleinbaai museum. |
Snoek heads! |
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| Dyer Island is 4 miles off shore. To the southeast is Geyser Island, home to a colony of seals. The GWS hunts along "shark alley" on the seals. |
Didn't know it at the time, but this is the boat we eventually ended up going out on 36 hours later! No dives were operating due to winds & high swells for 2 days. |
Sunday... we finally got out on a boat. Sea conditions were better, but despite how lovely this looks - it was high swells and windy! |
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| Carcharodon carcharias, or the Great White Shark. Also known in Gansbaai fishing villages as White Death. |
Checking out the cage. The sharks do not like all the noise, and the swells didn't make it any quieter as the cage banged up against the boat! |
One of many swells ranging from 5 - 7 meters. Or.... 15 - 20 feet. Augh. |
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| And crashing just beside the boat. A wild 5 hour ride that my sea legs were not ready for. Sheesh! |
Our typical view of the day, then the ride down the backside. (: |
I stayed on top as it made them seem smaller. Most of them were as tall as the boat, yet it was an optical illusion to fool my senses. (; |
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| Winds made for some cool water spray behind the swells bashing Dyer Island. |
GREAT shark sighting from the top deck. The vertical visibility meant you could see better from the top. |
Another swell comes in... everything stops and everyone holds on as the front guys call out when the 'big' ones came through. |
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| Completely unruffled by the winds. |
A bit o' action on the bait line. |
Ignoring the seal.... |
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| Taste test. |
A stealth female cruises the boat perimeter, then fades off. |
So not interested in us... |
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| "Gnashing" as they called it. Meaning the shark is "testing" what is around it by chomping the water after the bait has been removed. Not an "attack" mode! |
More gnashing. You can tell it's not taking this seriously as the eyelids are not covered by the white protective membrane. |
Upclose of the nose of the shark. I was very impressed with these animals! |