Sharks back to test Gansbaai waters again
CLAMP and Mini Nemo have come back to Gansbaai‚ six months after killer whales chased these white sharks away.
Gansbaai‚ about 160km from Cape Town‚ is one of the world’s premier white shark destinations, and tourists are virtually guaranteed to spot them on cage-diving trips.
But white sharks fled the bay last year after orcas hunted and killed five of them‚ including a rare female almost 5m long.
Marine biologist Alison Towner‚ of the Dyer Island Conservation Trust‚ said yesterday: “Post the orca slaughter‚ we have had six months with very little white shark activity and sightings came in dribs and drabs.
“Now the white sharks are starting to return‚ and we are seeing large sharks we recognise.”
White sharks can be identified by marks on their fins and tails‚ and the latest sightings include sharks from 1.5m long to a 6m female.
Even before the orca activity‚ white shark expert Chris Fallows said that he had been seeing fewer and fewer white sharks in False Bay.
“Regulars are not coming back and we are finding a huge inconsistency in their arrivals and departures‚ which were like clockwork over more than 15 years‚” he said at the time.
Bronze whaler sharks stepped in as the top predators in Gansbaai after the white sharks left‚ Towner said.
“The bronzies came in and carried the shark sighting ecotourism operation. Now the white sharks are starting to return‚ the bronzies are moving off. We have been through a desert, so to have one white shark sighting is really appreciated‚” she said.
The last white shark necropsy Towner attended was in June but the orcas‚ known to target white sharks‚ are still in SA waters. The scientists found that the white shark livers – massive, oily, highly nutritious and weighing as much as a human being – had been removed with almost surgical precision by the orcas.
“Those two were seen recently passing Mossel Bay and five days later off Cape Point. They have a learned behaviour targeting sharks‚” she said.