There's more to South Africa than Cage Diving: Don't miss the sharks of Aliwal Shoal

(Photo by Mark Van Coller: www.earthphotos.co.za)

My article on Aliwal Shoal - my favorite place on earth - is running this month in Sport Diver. Initially, I was thrilled to bring some US attention to the spot and to an operator, that to me, represents exactly what you are looking for when you go shark diving. Someone who cares about the sharks, who is passionate, who is knowledgable, and who walks the talk - in this case donating, even in hard times, an incredible amount to shark conservation. When people ask me to define the perfect shark dive operators, I think of only a few special people around the world. And, Mark & Gail Addison are leaders amongst them.

(Mark ensuring we get our footage for the Remove the Nets campaign.)

I guess I naively didn't realize that everything was for sale - and instead of running the story with the ONLY operator I would EVER dive with in Aliwal, they ran it with the operator that presumably paid the most in advertising dollar. And while not stating it outright, it certainly implies this is the operator I dive with - and an operator the reader should contact. An incredible shame and lost opportunity for anyone who reads the article and doesn't do their research.

For the record - go to Aliwal. And, when you go, don't consider diving with anyone other than Blue Wilderness, and two incredibly special people that will always be some of the best friends the sharks of South Africa have. We need more people on this earth like them.

And now, the story. (I prefer the original un-edited version, of course!)

(Yes, that is three shark species in one picture at Aliwal.)

Backflipping over the approaching pack of black tips distracted by the whale shark above, I came face to face with a pair of fifteen-foot tiger sharks sneaking up on me from behind. A nightmare? Hardly. Try shark lovers’ paradise.

Those who crave the big animal experience – particularly the dorsal-finned variety – know South Africa has some of the sharkiest waters in the world. But, tragically, many stop at a cage diving experience in Cape Town, missing out on some of the best shark diving on the planet. I, however, prefer my sharks outside of cages, and it is a particular striped species I crave - which is how I first learned about Aliwal Shoal. 40 kilometres south of Durban, infamous for its tigers, Aliwal seems like a far way to go – that is until you actually get into the water. One day at Aliwal, and you will go to any length to return.

A shark diving experience can be graded on five distinct factors: activity, number of animals, size, species diversity, and interaction quality. Having dived some of the best shark spots in the world, the legendary Aliwal Shoal managed to exceed my every expectation in seconds. Grade: A+.

Slipping eagerly into the water, the sharks revealed themselves in layers, three species deep. A handful of hulking Zambezis lurking shyly at the bottom, the unmistakable presence of no less than seven gargantuan tigers gracefully gliding in the water column, and too many oceanic blacktips darting about at the surface like over-active terriers to count. My head was spinning; this was shark sensory overload.

I spent the next two hours at 15 feet completely spellbound, as the sharks took turns personally introducing themselves – each with their own distinctive flair. I got to know them all: the blacktips, full of vim and vigour, boldly approaching until they were close enough that you could feel their electric energy, the tigers with their favorite, disarming game - sneaking up only to coolly change intent as soon as they were caught in the act, and the Zambezi as distrusting as shy children until their curiosity inevitably got the best of them.

It was the kind of dive that puts you off macro diving forever. It was the kind of dive you speak of to complete strangers. And in my case, it was the kind of dive that changes your life.

Since then, Aliwal has become my passion and shameless addiction. Because Aliwal delivers some of the most extraordinary and unimaginable big animal encounters the ocean can offer. Believe it or not, a dive with 50 tiger, blacktip and zambezi sharks is just an average day.

The article the way it should have been:

The actual article is below:

Saving Sharks... through High School Students

(One of the blacktips we caught and tagged.)

A few months ago, I was reminded how important it is to work with our children, raising a new generation of conservationists to take over where we leave off in the hopes they can be more successful than we were. I have always enjoyed teaching kids about sharks, loving how open minded and thoughtful they are. But this time, I had an even greater joy - I was given the opportunity to watch some pretty inspiring people infect young adults with a passion for sharks… and science.

(The students participating in the SFSSP the day I joined them.)

I met up with the South Florida Student Shark Program (SFSSP) in the Keys, one beautiful Sunday morning, with the intention of capturing their project on film for an Underwater Channel episode. Neil Hammerschlag, a dedicated scientist and conservationist, runs the two-year old program funded by the Hoover Foundation and University of Miami. Their goal? To study the habitat and health of the shark population in the keys to ensure the sharks’ continued critical existence in these waters. Their main scientific tools? High school students.

(The team in action. Pictures by Neil Hammerschlag.)

Yes, that’s right. High school students are doing much of the work. While I can shamefully recall being concerned with things like finding cool combat boots (yes, I was a little bit of a rebel) and my favorite band at the time (Depeche Mode of course), this group of young adults – at the same age I was - are worried enough about the health of the oceans to give up their weekends to attempt catching and tagging sharks.

(The SFSSP gang bragging about 13 sharks!!!)

I was thoroughly impressed and excited with the work Neil Hammerschlag, Leann Winn, Adam Matulik and the team are doing – going far beyond studying the range, size, and health of the local shark population – but also examining the high mercury content and other chemicals such us neurotoxins in the shark’s flesh. You see, their work gives all of us shark conservationists a powerful weapon in our arsenal to stop those who consume shark fin soup. As apex predators, the sharks are amassing dangerous doses of methyl-mercury in their flesh – even in their fins - which is consumed when they are eaten. One bowl of shark fin soup is often enough to cause birth defects in pregnant women, and mercury poisoning leads to sterility and nervous system issues. Mercury poisoning is so common that 1 in 3 Chinese born women tested in New York city had four times the FDA approved limit in their blood. Through the SFSSP’s work, high mercury levels in Floridian sharks can now be proven. What’s more, Neil’s team is contributing to a world-wide effort to examine shark tissue for other contaminants, including a chemical that leads to brain disorders such as Alzhemiers. Ironically the soup meant to symbolize health and prosperity is a dangerous concoction of environmental poisons.

On the day I joined the team, we headed to an area that was home to a deep channel between two Keys and set the initial ten drumlines. While I am usually the one covered in dead fish, it was such a treat to have eleven students eager to get messy! The students prepared the fish, baited the hooks, laid the lines and took samples. I was already smiling to see such enthusiasm when it was time to check the first line.

So imagine how big my smile was to find that on the 15 lines we set, we caught 13 sharks! A new SFSSP record! (And finally, maybe my curse was over. Yes, I am always the one who gets on a boat to see nothing and get no results only to hear from someone that only the day prior, that they saw synchronized white sharks breaching, or an aggregation of 100 whale sharks, or they tagged the world’s largest bull shark, or recorded a bait ball that consisted of 12 different elasmobranch species so big it was visible even in space.)



The boat was buzzing with activity as the team of scientists and students worked side by side to quickly pull in each shark minimizing impact on the animal, take its measurements and specifics, obtain a core sample and a fin clip, and tag it with two separate tags. 4 bull sharks, 1 nurse shark, 4 lemon sharks, and 5 black tips! It was absolutely amazing.

In all of the action, I managed to chat with a few kids to determine how these experiences were impacting them. Of the 6 kids I talked to, four wanted a career that would allow them to get involved in environmental science or marine biology, five were now using seafood choice cards and the one who was a fisherman had stopped catching sharks – as did his whole family. And what’s more, each one of them told me, with complete passion and total believability (not to mention accuracy), why it was so important to protect sharks, given their role in our planet’s overall health. My spirits soared when I imagined all of the kids whose lives SFSSP had changed – and then, in turn, all of the people whose minds were changed about sharks because of these compassionate, committed kids. SFSSP truly is giving sharks, and our youth, a chance.


Without a doubt, the work SFSSP is doing is absolutely critical. Not just to improve our collective understanding for sharks, or even to stop them from being chased into extinction, but to make this world a better place – for generations to come.

Watch the Underwater Channel episode.

And, to learn more about SFSSP, please check out their blog on the Shark Savers site – and their website.

Tracking a Giant: Meet Nyami Nyami, the 4 meter Bull Shark

(The beautiful Nyami Nyami - photo by Alison Towner)

Three weeks ago, Meaghen McCord from the South African Shark Conservancy (SASC) and her team found the 4 meter giant in the Breede River over 15 km from the ocean. She was an over-achieving shark, setting many records – and proving many theories wrong – including the fact she was living far outside of her known range - in an area she wasn't supposed to inhabit. The discovery was a true triumph for Meag who had been self funding the efforts to find these "ghost" sharks who have long been rumored amongst the locals to exist, regardless of the scientific skeptics that surrounded her.

And, it is an amazing discovery for the Zambezis, who you will recall from a previous blog entry are extremely threatened due to a lack of healthy estuaries in Southern Africa which they use as breeding grounds. It appears the Zambezis do indeed have a healthy place to strengthen their dwindling numbers. It is just hundreds of kilometers South, but I guess no one told Nyami Nyami, our massive and rather clever lady who is most likely soon to become a mom.

Meag and her team tagged the beautiful shark and tracked her for 43 consecutive hours as she swam from fishing boat to fishing boat, out into the ocean and then, far upstream. They vowed to return with more support – allowing them to track Nyami Nyami for 24 hours a day for two weeks straight. It isn't often you have the opportunity to get into the head of a shark by studying her every movement for two weeks, so of course I jumped at the opportunity to participate.

(Tagging Nyami Nyami so we can track her - photo by Alison Towner)

It has been an incredible experience to track Nyami Nyami – and gain a deeper understanding of this misunderstood animal. And what a complex creature she is. She loves swimming in water less than a meter deep on low tides, rubbing her belly on the mud. Then, there are times she enjoys lying stationary in deeper pits probably watching her world swim by. Sometimes she missions at an incredible speed against the current to one of her favorite destinations, and others, she rides the current lazily moving the same speed as our drifting boat. We have tracked her from the river mouth upstream over 30 kilometers and back again. She certainly gets around.

(Tracking the ghost shark... With our trusty Skipper - and brave shark wrangler, Steve Smuts)

Nyami Nyami is quite curious, and often swims up to those on the water – either wading or in boats. While sometimes she will ignore fisherman, other times, she heads straight for them, sitting patiently on their lines waiting for them to catch something. When they do, she is always up for an easy meal – just adding to the adventure that is fishing in the Breede River. She is also very sensitive to vibrations and is often drawn to those making them. I have many times witnessed her swim right up to people waist deep in the water digging for prawns, to merely check them out and then move on. She even swam up on some swimmers yesterday. Never has there been a shark attack in the Breede River. Indeed, Nyami Nyami has had every opportunity to expand her diet; clearly we are not on her menu. Yes, 4 meter bull sharks and people can peacefully co-exist. Even in murky water.

(Paul writes down the data...)

(As Julie tracks her...)

And Nyami Nyami is not alone. We have plenty of evidence to prove that there are more of her kind. Fin sightings, breachings, huge 100 lb Cobbs bitten in half – all attributed to someone other than our girl, since we know exactly where she was at the time each occurred – and it wasn't near any of the other instances of evidence.

(100 lb Cob head - chowed by someone other than our girl... Fisherman fought with the fish for an hour before the line instantly went slack... This is what he reeled in. Photo by JP Botha.)

Although it seems like I am tracking a ghost since she rarely can be seen in the murky water that is less than a half meter visibility, she has breached for us, and for a few minutes each day, she shows an impressive dorsal and caudal fin. So for brief moments, I am visually connected to my new obsession. More spectacular for me, though, are the frequent moments that the tracking device, the VR100, gives us readings of 105. 70+ means she is 10 – 15 meters away… 105? Well, she is nuzzling our boat!

(A brief glimpse of Nyami Nyami rubbing her belly on the mud.)

But what I have found more powerful is the community's reaction to Nyami Nyami. As a conservationist with an undying passion for sharks, I have soaring highs and crushing lows depending on whom I am speaking to. Some want to kill her for threatening their fish supply - not realizing the important role she plays in keeping their stocks healthy. Some love the idea of sport fishing for the world's largest trophy set of bull shark jaws. Others are now terrified, even though there were always sharks in the river. But fortunately, those individuals are fewer than those that are absolutely thrilled with the discovery. Many community members are excited about the finding, with people frequently stopping us to ask about her latest escapades. They love the idea that these waters are healthy enough to support Bull Sharks, when almost nowhere else in South Africa can. Often, we pull up to fisherman who are amused at the fact a shark larger than their boat is hanging out, just waiting to see what they catch. Even the swimmers who we notified about the shark below them were shocked but quite curious.

It is fortunate, since the community's support is desperately needed, as she, like so many other sharks, requires grassroots protection. Some question the release of her existence, fearing it is her death wish. Hardly. Instead of allowing a few trophy hunters to come in and silently kill Nyami Nyami (since they witnessed her original capture), instead, due to the publicity, MCM has put an immediate moratorium on all shark fishing in the river until further information can be gathered - with a fine of R500,000 for violators. But legislation, as we all know, is only a small part of the battle. Enforcement is far more important. Thankfully, the community is now self-policing, keeping any potential hunters out. It is my hope that those passionate about the river will continue to serve as Nyami Nyami, and all of her friends', guardian angels. She, and Bull Sharks everywhere, need all the protection they can get.

*SASC has funded much of this effort and desperately needs your support to continue tracking Nyami Nyami and all of their good work.