At the southern apex of Africa, Cape Town’s False Bay is home to one of the planet’s largest gatherings of big marine predators. What brings them all here?

- TEXT AND PHOTOS BY CHRIS & MONIQUE FALLOWS - LOCATION South Africa’s False Bay was named by early mariners who had expected to sail into Table Bay on the other side of the Cape Peninsula but instead found themselves fur- ther south. The 1,000 square kilometre inlet straddles the cool Benguela and warmer Agulhas currents, result- ing in water temperatures that fluctuate between 12 and 23°C, one of the widest ranges known to occur globally.

Powerful winds and upwellings churn nutrients in the wa- ter, feeding seasonal algal blooms, which sustain huge populations of bait (such as , , mullet and maasbankers). These lure , such as kabeljou, elf, leervis and yellowtail, which in turn at- tract the large top predators that the Bay is famous for. This elite ‘Bite Club’ include a impressive variety of - including the infamous great white - as well as orcas, fur seals and several species of and .

PHOTOGRAPHY In addition to being one of the False Bay truly is South Africa’s Serengeti, leading authorities on Great where the ocean’s greatest predators still rule White behaviour, Chris the waters and the abundant shoals of prey Fallows is a professional wildlife live their precarious lives beneath the waves. photographer. His book ‘Great White, The Majesty of Sharks’, chronicles his journey from a penniless shark enthusiast to his discovery of “flying” great whites in 1996. GREAT WHITE SHARK Carcharodon carcharias

WEIGHT (grown): 2,500 kg LENGTH: more than 6 m TOP SPEED: 50 km/h GREAT WHITE FLIGHT

In 1996, Chris Fallows was the first to document cently weaned and returning from their first fishing Great White Shark breaching behaviour and to trips. date the apex Shark Expeditions team have re- Over the course of four months, the island’s waters corded over 9350 predatory events in the area. become a staging ground for an epic showdown This remarkable predatory onslaught takes between predator and prey, hosting between 600 place primarily during the South African winter and 800 events per season, a figure un- months from May to August, and the regularity of paralleled anywhere else on earth. these spectacular bursts of piscine athleticism ‘No matter how many times you witness it, the sight are unique to Seal Island, False Bay. of the ocean’s most talked about super predator Why do they only do this here? ‘The clue is in the leaping, sometimes 10 foot clear of the water, name’, says Chris. ‘The sharks are patrolling Seal leaves you buzzing with excitement and admira- Island in search of inexperienced seal pups, re- tion’, says Chris. SHARK VS. SEAL Great white sharks are built for brute force and Then an interesting find came to light and the an- speed, being eight times as heavy, twice as long swer was obvious. Research showed that seals and twice as fast as a Cape fur seal. But whilst can detect the vortices left by the swimming it appears sharks should have the edge in these stroke of a small 30 seconds after it has deadly dances, the seals are in fact equipped with passed. Likewise, whenever a great white charges some pretty spectacular anti predatory senses of upwards at a seal, it displaces a huge amount their own. Their agility outstrips the shark’s, en- of water. This ‘bubble’ of water, similar in hydro- abling them to outmanoeuvre their adversary. dynamics to what a submarine pushes around For a long while Fallows wondered how the seals its bow, triggers an instinctive reflex in seals to knew to leap out of the water that split second be- quickly change direction, out of the way of the ap- fore the shark breached behind them, even when proaching juggernaut. the water was dirty or it was near dark, thereby This split-second early warning system is often the taking away any chance that the seal had seen the difference between life and death, where survival shark. is decided by the narrowest of margins. The use of chum, (basically ground up fish), in the more productive activities. If anything, the sharks per predators. The days of a fishing boat taking a process of attracting sharks has been a hot topic are becoming negatively conditioned.” bunch of tourists out and throwing the shark piec- for a long while. Those against the use of chum ar- “The idea of great white sharks associating hu- es of horse and dumping blood in the water are gue that it causes the sharks to associate humans mans with a food is, once again, a big stretch. To long gone. Today for the most part, competition with food and also conditioned sharks to being think that the shark, who sees a piece of fish on and an ever more educated tourist, have dictated fed. a float, cognitively links this piece of fish with a that shark tourism boats up their game and pro- “Whilst I cannot comment on all operations”, says human standing on the boat or divers in a cage is vide a service that matches the magnificence of Chris, “I can comment on most in South Africa and a big ask. Even if it did, does that mean it would the animals they are showcasing.” certainly on our own shark diving business in False go and attack a human every time it saw them? “Quite simply, in South Africa, it is the shark cage Bay. During the course of the roughly 200-220 Logically then, every time a shark steals fish from diving industry that keeps the sharks alive. With- trips we run each year we use roughly 1000kg of a fisherman the same assumption should hold out commercial cage dive operators watching for as bait to attract sharks. This equates to an true.” poaching and adding to the growing wave of pro- average of 5kg of bait per trip. Most of this tuna is “Quite simply, chumming or baiting takes many shark supporters by exposing tourists to what the not used as we have a very vigilant crew that have forms in the ocean. You might say that trawlers animal behind the myth is really about, the sharks become experts in spotting sharks!” dumping fish in the ocean and cleaning fish in would have no chance.” “5kg of bait per day certainly is not going to be harbours is no different than chumming carried “As people don’t choose just any doctor to do an enough to keep several 500-1000+kg sharks well out by cage-diving boats or a shark research ves- operation nor should they choose just any opera- fed and make them conditioned to our vessel. In sels. Of course, the commercial fishing operations tor to show you an animal as magnificent as the fact quite the contrary, because the baits are pur- that attract sharks do very little to show people great white shark. Do your homework and find the posefully pulled away from the sharks, in many the beauty of the great white, nor do they place operator that best fits your needs and conserva- cases they lose interest in our vessel or leave to do an emphasis on educating guests about these su- tion ethic.” INSHORE SHARKS

In spring, great whites move inshore, looking for With the number of people using the ocean in- smaller sharks and fish. This may be due to the creasing all the time, human interactions with warmer, highly oxygenated water trapped inshore, sharks will logically increase. helping them digest food and save energy. “Chris has kayaked and paddle-boarded with Whatever the reason, and despite their proximity many different great whites and free dived with to the beach, the sharks are certainly not scout- multiple sharks at a time”, says Monique. “Sharks ing for human prey. Nevertheless, it must be con- will not simply rush up and attack you, no matter sidered that rampant fishing by long liners and what form of recreation you pursue. At no stage line fishermen may be pushing great whites to have any acted aggressively towards him, which widen their search for prey, thus increasing their clearly shows that they pose relatively little threat. chances of coming into contact with humans. It’s Nevertheless, before others are tempted to try this a trend that is likely to continue unless measures it must be remembered that Chris is very experei- are taken to reduce fishing pressure on their prey enced and has a good idea of the right conditions species. to do this under.” SHARK SPOTTING

“One summer we heard over our boat’s ra- see the shark. Watching it gliding along dio that a large Great white had been sight- with houses directly above really drove ed in Fish Hoek”, says Monique. “We were home the fact that we need to be able to only 5 minutes away so we made our way co-exist with sharks in our waters.” quickly to the scene. In such flat conditions “The Shark Spotting program is a very pro- the shark stood out like a sore thumb and active way of doing this. There are spotters we approached for a closer look to see if who sit on the mountain above Fish Hoek we could identify the animal. It was quite a and Muizenberg, two areas that sharks pa- sight. The beach had already been cleared trol frequently. A simple flag system on the by Shark Spotters and the shark was now beach lets beachgoers know the situation cruising along Jaggers Walk on the west- and if a shark should be spotted close to ern side of Fish Hoek Bay. People who were bathing areas, the water is cleared by the walking along Jaggers Walk could clearly use of a siren.” COMPETITION 3 SHARK SIZE 4 By mid June, great white shark numbers at Seal When measured relative to a human lifespan, Island are peaking. Lots of sharks hanging around Seals Island’s great whites are still generally optimal hunting areas means lots of competition. ‘teenagers’. The largest are on average 3.5m or So when they see a seal they launch an attack , 12ft. This means that they are at or near their most not necessarily waiting for the perfect time. This athletic, both in design and in energy efficiency. In means attacks are hit-and-miss, with sharks mov- a nutshell, these are sharks bristling with speed ing from one seal to another, until they get a lucky and energy. Young great whites generally feed on strike. fish and larger adults appear to supplement the What is interesting is that larger sharks generally odd seal with a lot of cetacean scavenging. So hunt further away from the island, avoiding the in- Seal Island attracts the right size class of shark. creased competition in the core hunting area. The success of these sharks is also higher. It appears therefore that the larger sharks probably follow Fallows believes that it is a combination of their prey for longer and wait for the perfect time these factors that dictates the spectacular high to strike, rather than launch suboptimal strikes speed athletic breach behavior seen around simply because of the pressure to catch a seal be- False Bay’s seal Island. fore another shark does. Why is shark breaching seen so often at Seal Island but so rarely elsewhere?

Based on his observations from great white shark hot spots worldwide, Fallows thinks there are a number of factors at play. PREY SIZE 2

THE TOPOGRAPHY Young Cape Fur Seals weigh up to around 40lbs 1 during the peak predation months and sharks can The southern terminus on Seal Island is a shallow comfortably strike them at full speed without risk reef, which the seals use to leave and return to of injury. In the Guadalupe, or the Farallon Islands the island. Beyond the reef is deep water where off the of California, elephant seals can sharks can lurk undetected. The reef structure weigh hundreds of pounds even when they are rises quickly as it approaches the island, so the young. Hitting one of these seals at speed would sharks are forced upwards, racing to the surface probably harm the shark. Also, different seal spe- in an attempt to ambush their prey before they are cies employ different feeding and hunting strate- seen. Most attacks take place within 500m of the gies and many do not porpoise (leap clear of the island, with the shark often pursuing a seal all the water) with such regularity as the Cape fur seals, way to the surface, where its momentum propels which necessitates different hunting strategies it out of the water. for sharks. Steven Spielberg’s 1975 blockbuster film JAWS, To meet the growing interest, film crews flocked based on the novel by Peter Benchley, elicited a to many of the world’s famous great white shark more emotive response towards the Great white haunts but undoubtedly none more so than False than any other film has done before or since for Bay’s Seal Island. any animal. On a winter morning in 1996 I towed a small life- Quite simply this iconic shark became public en- jacket behind my motorised 11ft rubber dinghy emy number one. In the same breath though the and lo and behold a great white shark launched super shark was elevated to an unparalleled sta- into the air, lifejacket clenched between it’s pearly tus amongst other wildlife, with everyone having whites. an opinion one way or another. With the anti-shark That was my introduction to the Flying great white lobby there also emerged a pro-shark lobby, com- sharks that patrol Seal Island. prised of those who wanted to educate themselves It wasn’t rocket science that we had discovered and learn more about the creature in flesh, rather something very special and when my first images than simply believe in the behaviour of the robotic of the sharks breaching made the public domain creature portrayed on the big screen. the response was incredible. Sharks became so popular that Discovery Chan- Front page stories on some of the world’s biggest nel in 1987 launched an entire week of shows newspapers carried the images which many ques- dedicated to sharks which continues with ever tioned as being fake. Soon thereafter film crews growing popularity to this day. started joining our shark viewing company to see

these sharks in action. All the time we learnt more try and see. Today more than 70,000 people cage about the complex and intertwined ecosystem dive with great white sharks each year in South Af- of Seal Island and how we needed to respect not rica and operations in Guadalupe, Australia and only the shark but also their prey, as both dueled New Zealand have all grown in popularity. for survival in spectacular aerial contests. Today I still try to get “The Shot”. With less than a Discovery Channel’s ‘Air Jaws’ series of shows second and no warning, shooting a breach is not really catapulted the flying sharks into the strato- for those with slow reflexes. The real challenge sphere as breach after breach launched into living though, and one I focus most attention on, is pho- rooms everywhere. tographing a natural predation. This is what the Then came BBC’s landmark ‘Planet Earth’ series, true essence of Seal Island is all about. If I can with its super high speed cameras and slow mo- showcase this behavior to those people who do tion footage that visually enticed us with every not have the means to see it for themselves and at water droplet cascading down the shark’s back in the same time pay homage to both predator and high definition. prey I hope in some way to have paid back my debt The Great white was no longer a villain, it was now of gratitude for the privilege of spending time with a super athletic predator that people flocked to Seal Island’s amazing wildlife. Recent research shows that not only do sharks proaching adulthood in the 14-15ft range, they specialise in different hunting techniques in dif- once again seem to have a diet shift. Chasing ag- ferent areas but individual sharks within those ar- ile seals becomes less rewarding and start to rely eas may also specialise. more on higher-energy species, such as elephant Young great whites, 5-8ft in size specialize in seals and carcasses. feeding primarily on fish, smaller sharks and rays. Interestingly, at Seal Island only 10% of all sharks As they start growing their long, narrow teeth be- are 4.0m or more in length and adults of 5m or come wider and more suited to cutting their prey, more are rare. When a whale carcass drifts into rather than grasping it. This reflects a shift in their the 1,000 square kilometer False Bay, large diet towards more mammalian prey. adults are suddenly seen. It appears, therefore, At Seal Island the highly athletic teenage sharks that whilst these animals are rare to Seal Island, in the 10-14 ft range feed almost exclusively on they are still present and prefer to feed on these young, recently-weaned Cape fur seals, which high energy, all-you-can-eat blubber buffets.

have a healthy layer of blubber but a dispropor- In areas such as Guadalupe and the Farallon Is- tionate amount of experience when it comes to lands off the North American west coast, larger A predilection for Sashimi is also seen in Med- land, little predation has been witnessed, but recognising predators. On cloud free days, the adult great whites often target elephant seals iterranean great white shark diets where large as the great whites concentrate around seal sharks feed mostly just before sunrise until about of varying ages and size. They attack underwa- adult great whites have often been caught in colonies, mostly New Zealand fur seals, it is an hour after sunrise, but will feed longer when ter, trying to bite the seal with a devastating first the matanza, the harvesting of Bluefin tuna, in likely that they are the primary prey. With the light levels are lower. By using a full speed sur- strike and then waiting until their prey has bled a series of nets leading ultimately to a death water generally much clearer than in South Af- face attack they are able to catch and kill seals out before feeding. Often, several sharks will feed chamber, where sadly great whites sometimes rica it is possible that the sharks are feeding on 48% of all attacks observed at Seal Island and on a single large seal and events can last upwards also end up. Great whites caught in this area at night when the advantage of sight would be 90% of these are on pups less than a year old. of 20 minutes. have in also been found with dolphins (mostly taken away from the seals and the sharks can Sharks very seldom share seal kills and predation At Guadalupe, off Mexico, in addition to seals, bottlenose) in their stomachs. use their highly acute ability to detect sound events last typically 30 seconds to a few minutes. the great white sharks in this area also scavenge Moving down South to Australia and New Zea- and vibration to give them the upper hand. As the sharks grow even further and start ap- yellowfin tuna from under sport fishing boats. ‘Just as each human being has a personality, so ‘We also had February , a super confident do great white sharks’, says Fallows. female who we watched over the course of a ‘Undoubtedly the greatest long term highlight decade grow from 10ft into a 16ft magnificent of working with them has been getting to know adult, dominating her kind and our boat alike.’ the individuals themselves. It’s like seeing ‘Currently we have Shy Guy, a 12ft reserved an old friend when they return each year. And male who is a super efficient hunter but nev- it’s sad when they don’t come back. Whilst all er comes to the boat. He really is a shark that sharks are special there are those that make dispels the notion that great whites are condi- that much more of an impression.’ tioned to expect handouts from boats. ‘Between 1997 and 2006 we got to know Ras- Then there’s Cruella, an assertive 12ft female ta, the super relaxed and lovable shark we whose high-speed lunges at our decoy and bait watched for 8 years. Rasta grew close to 15ft managed to chase away a BBC film crew who and would put her head out of the water and just wanted to film a relaxed, slow-swimming gaze at our boat. On one occasion, she gen- shark.’ tly put her head on our dive step, which was a ‘Undoubtedly these, and many other great foot clear of the water, looking curiously at all whites we have come to know so well, have real- who watched her. If ever there was shark who ly taught us that each animal out there deserves got into the hearts of all who saw her, it was the to be treated as an individual, with respect and gentle giant, Rasta.’ with compassion.’ WHALE BUFFET cass in the early hours of the morning. Large chunks of blubber had already been removed and one male “Five times over the last 13 years we have had was busy gorging himself as we attempted to se- the privilege of witnessing the truly phenomenal cure our boat onto the anchored whale. Great white event of Great white sharks feeding on a whale sharks have high energy demands and the thick lay- carcass”, says Monique. er of blubber on this whale was the ultimate energy “ In September 2010, when we disovered a dead source.” 12-meter Brydes whale, it was the beginning of “It was interesting to see just how selective the a 9-day clean up job like no other.” “The whale had either been hit by a large boat or had died in a trawl net. There were already a number of white shark bites as well as what we presumed were blue shark and mako shark bites.” “Judging by the prevailing weather conditions and current drift the carcass would have washed up onto a tricky bit of coast line making the clean up job a very difficult one. We made a decision to tow the whale some 9 miles further into False Bay to Seal Island in the hope that the Great whites could dispose of the carcass naturally. The towing mission was extremely slow going.

sharks were. We watched as they would bite into the whale’s flesh and then move on as soon as they could taste it was not the energy rich blubber they were after. This was not the that some people wrongly believe is typical of a great white. In one horrific moment a shark bit through the womb of the whale and out popped its already dead calf. We felt sad at this terrible waste of life, but at least the sharks were able to benefit from it.” “More than 30 different sharks attended the ban- quet at different times, more than I ever thought would be present in False Bay during September. Great whites rarely tolerate each other’s presence but their behaviour seemed more relaxed around the whale as there was little competition for the With the oily slick of chum following in our wake gigantic cracass. At one point, we saw four feed- we were astounded that no sharks came to in- ing together, though some were sporting fresh bite vestigate, even after we arrived at Seal Island marks” and waited for several hours.” “This was an extremely rare event that we were priv- “When we returned the following day it was ev- ileged to see. I don’t know if we will ever have the ident that the sharks must have found the car- chance again.” ‘Whilst it is a privilege every time you see a ‘Another highlight has to be the times when great white shark move effortlessly through we have witnessed in excess of 45 predato- its watery world there are some moments ry events in a single morning, most taking that stand out and remain with you forever’, place in just a few hours, sometimes simul- says Chris. ‘The single event that was most taneously. Our guests all shout and scream memorable for me had to be watching 28 with excitement. It’s a seal’s worst night- great white devour a whale carcass in July mare, with sharks launching wave after wave 2000. We had the sharks, some of which of spectacular aerial assaults. You don’t were 16ft or more, feeding belly up next know where to look or which event to follow! to each other. Up to eight sharks at a time The same is true for the , which usually would lift half their bodies clear of the wa- above such events, waiting for a breach ter, clamping onto the energy-rich blubber or splash and then swooping down to search and hanging there like piglets sucking from for seal entrails. On mornings such as these, a sow. The hiss of air exploding from each gulls will proactively follow the seals instead, gulp, along with the thrashing and tearing of because attacks are that likely.’ fatty chunks, was mesmerizing. Coupled with ‘To put this into perspective, the Farralon the acrid smell and fatty mist that lingered islands off San Francisco, which records above the rotting carcass, this was a sensory roughly 40-50 events in a whole year is said onslaught; truly the nirvana for shark lovers.’ to be the second best place to see natural ‘In just 18 hours the sharks had devoured predatory behaviour of great whites.’ two thirds of the 12m long Brydes whale.’ COMMON Delphinus delphis

WEIGHT (grown): 150 kg LENGTH: 1.7 - 2.5 m TOP SPEED: 40 km/h MOVEABLE FEAST

In Autumn, the movement of bait fish into the mid- dle of the bay attracts huge schools of common dolphins - sometimes as many as 1,000 in a single “megapod” but schools of 20-200 are more com- mon. Working as a team, they the fish into a ‘bait ball’ firing bursts of sonar to disorientate their prey. These beautifully patterned dolphins are especially common in False Bay in April but can be seen year round. They grow to around 2.5m, live close to 40 years and will actively race up to boats and try to ride the bow wave. The yellowish figure of eight pattern on the flanks of this dolphin is a key identification feature. In South African waters common dolphins are often associated with flocks of Cape gannets, which follow the pod and wait for them to herd fish into a bait ball. Then they attack from the air, plummeting into the water at speeds exceeding 120 kilometres per hour and plunging to depths of 20 metres or more. When underwater they can “fly” after their prey with remarkably keen eyesight. The strike of the gannets as they hit the water makes a very clearly audible thud, even to the human ear. No doubt the sound of the gannets hitting the water en masse is the calling card for a whole host of predators such as sharks and Brydes whales which also join the dolphins at the feast.

Bronze whaler sharks attack a baitball herded by dolphins

Gannets dive below the waves to join the feast Common dolphins are by far the most reg- middle of the school. ularly seen species of dolphin in False Bay. As the huge shoals of sardines leave False Around February each year, pods containing Bay so do the massive dolphin schools. Only hundreds of dolphins may expand to mega small pods seem to stay in the bay and sur- pods, numbering in excess of a thousand in- rounding area year-round. dividuals. The dolphins do appear to encounter great One of the most interesting aspects of dol- whites and it is not uncommon to see dol- phin feeding in False Bay is the seldom-seen phin schools fleeing an area, suddenly taking ‘gyre feeding’ pattern that the mega pods off as one at high speed. Whilst Fallows has employ. The dolphins swim as one in huge never seen an actual strike, an Apex Shark circular orbits, creating a swirling mass of Expeditions crew did once see a huge pool of water. Inside this mass, the hapless bait fish blood within a school of dolphins and a shark appear confused and the dolphins are able to feeding on the surface. No dolphin carcass pick them off with consummate ease. was actually seen but it appears highly likely Common dolphins , like many other species, that a great white shark had caught a com- are highly protective of their young and the mon dolphin and thus the threat that great new born or young dolphins swim tightly at white sharks pose to young, weak or less vig- their mother’s flanks, generally right in the ilant dolphins cannot be ignored. Orcinus orca

WEIGHT (male): up to 9,000 kg LENGTH (male): up to 9.8 m TOP SPEED: 56 km/h “When I first described the “2009 was an epic marine watch- fish. We watched as the orcas breaching sharks of Seal Island ing season, surpassing many swam to within 200 metres of back in 1996, I thought nothing before it, because an increased the boiling mass and then dived. could top the sight of an airborne density of common dolphins and For 30 peaceful seconds every- great white in pursuit of a seal”, Cape gannets had invaded False thing appeared normal, then all says Chris. “But thirteen years Bay in pursuit of the huge shoals hell broke loose. As the entire later I witnessed something that of baitfish. I strongly suspect that pod fled in a cascade of spray, was at least as incredible. It was it was the commotion of the daily one of the orcas launched her a beautiful autumn day and my feeding orgy involving more than 3,000-kilogram body out of the crew and I had anchored off Seal 1,000 dolphins, 5,000 gannets, water into the melee. It seemed Island to wait for sharks when hundreds of penguins, Bryde’s inconceivable that the ocean’s we saw several spouts in the whales and even massive pods two greatest predators would use distance, followed by two large of seals that attracted the orcas the same spectacular breaching dorsal fins breaking the surface. in the first place”. technique in the same area to Orcas! It was the first time we’d We followed the killer whales to- catch their prey. False Bay is the seen them in the bay. All thoughts wards a school of dolphins that only place in the world where or- of sharks were forgotten”. was tearing into a shoal of bait- cas and great whites do this. ‘By 2014 we had watched the orcas hunt 23 times and had seen 5 different pods’, says Fallows. ‘The most commonly seen pod is still the group of four but another pod of 12 has also been seen four times. Within this second pod are two adult males, one of whom is very active during hunting. More fascinating though, was watching a female teach her calf how to hunt the dolphins. We observed her stun and slow down a sub adult dolphin to the point where the dol- phin could only move at about three quarter pace. She and her calf then followed behind the injured dolphin for almost fifteen min- utes until, on some unknown cue, the calf rushed ahead and delivered the coup de grace to the dolphin. Whilst sad for the dol- phin, it was incredible to see how the whole hunting process is passed from generation to generation.’ ‘Orcas are seen off the South African coast on a regular basis, scavenging tuna and off longlines. But they only appear to come inshore when the massive dolphin

schools are feeding in the area. What is also ways stayed a respectful distance away very clear is how each orca has a unique from the pod and steered the same course personality. In the group of four, all of which as that which they are following from about have been named, there is the main hunt- 200 metres away. Without fail, Mannem- ress Cleopatra, who uses spectacular high erak always swims over to our vessel and speed upward rushes into her prey to inca- rides directly next to us at our stern. She will pacitate them. There are two smaller orcas sometimes do this for over five minutes and called Bonnie and Clyde who appear to sim- guests who are aboard our boat are left gid- ply run down their prey and then finally there dy with excitement as she frequently inverts is the very social Mannemerak, who always onto her back and swims upside down right brings up the rear and is like the sweeper in next to them. a football game.’ It is quite unbelievable how intelligent these ‘When we have been lucky enough to spend animals are and just how much personality time with these amazing four we have al- each one has.’ BLUE SHARK Prionace glauca

WEIGHT (grown): up to 240 kg LENGTH: up to 3.8 m TOP SPEED: 39 km/h and other-worldly

Blue sharks are masters of the open Although typically an offshore species, ocean, gliding on large wing-like pecto- the blue shark may venture inshore, es- ral fins and a flattened belly. pecially at night. They are easily identified by the deep The high season for pelagic sharks indigo-blue across their back and flank, around False Bay is November-June, paling to white underneath. with the better weather months being Blue sharks are probably the most wide- between February-June. spread and abundant of all shark spe- “The open ocean is an environment that cies, occurring in temperate and tropi- few ever experience”, says Chris. “Diving cal waters from 50°N to 40°S around with pelagic (open water) sharks such as the globe. However, this species is one blues and makos, is a unique and oth- of the most heavily fished sharks in the erworldly experience. They favour very world, with an estimated 10 to 20 mil- deep water, up to 1,000m or more, and lion individuals caught and killed each they are often found alongside huge yel- year, mostly to supply the international lowfin tuna and pelagic birds, such as shark fin trade. albatrosses.

‘The average size blue shark is about five feet in length with seven to nine footers being rare’, says Fallows. ‘As true open ocean nomads I always wonder just where they have come from and if they know where they are going.’ ‘Diving way out to sea off the South West Tip of Africa in over 1000m of water is about as adventurous you can be in today’s high tech world’, says Chris. ‘You know with almost cer- tainty that the sharks and wildlife you are en- countering have never seen a human in their world before. They are as curious of us as we are of them and blue sharks in particular will swim right up to you, even giving the odd bump to assess your status as prey, predator or otherwise. By being bold and meeting them head on, never taking your eyes off them, I’ve found that you are far less vulnerable. This way, the sharks may approach close to you but after a while they simply swim around you and treat you as another predator in their en- vironment.’ WHAT LIES BENEATH

A group of shy albatrosses rest on the sea, unconcerned about the blue sharks cruising below them. These long-dis- tance ocean nomads nest thousands of kilometres away, on three islands off Tasmania, visiting South African waters during non-breeding season to feed. “In January 2013 we were lucky “The sharks were larger than the aver- enough to witness the almost unbe- age size that we see, between 1.5 and lievable sight of about 40 blue sharks 2 metres in length. At no time did I feel feeding on a bait ball of anchovies”, threatened by the sharks in any way, says Monique. “In 15 years of working they simply ignored us and were only off Cape Point this is the first time we focused on the bait ball. Some would have come across this amazing situa- curiously approach us but there was tion.” seldom a situation where we needed “The water was clear blue, 15 to 20 to push them away. This amazed me meters visibility, and warm - perfect that they could be so non-threaten- for diving. The bait ball was just below ing in a natural feeding situation, just the surface which meant that it was showing again how most times sharks easy to snorkel.” are just interested in getting on with “The bait ball pitched and swelled as what they are supposed to do. They the sharks made their entrances. And held the fish together for three hours, then, as if a curtain was opening, the allowing Chris an incredible photo op- fish would part and the emerge again portunity. We are not aware of any oth- with a mouthful of . It was er images of blue sharks feeding on a mesmerizing.” fish bait ball.” CAPE FUR SEAL Arctocephalus pusillus

WEIGHT (grown): 300 kg LENGTH: 3 m TOP SPEED: 25 km/h Seal Island is home to 60,000 cape fur seals, South Africa’s largest island-bound seal colony. Ironically, despite being the largest of all fur seals, they were originally described from a pup and given the scien- tific name Arctocephalus pusillus (pusillus means small). ‘The seals on Seal Island appear to haul out in almost exactly the same spot each day, as if each seal has his or her tiny piece of real estate’, says Chris. ‘What we sus- pect is that there is a social connection between the seals in a general area. De- pending on family ties or age, the seals seem to form well established groupings. This is even more amazingly demonstrated when the seals go out to feed. Swimming through breaking surf over very shallow reef, they congregate at a point on the Southern terminus of the island called the ‘launch pad’, until up to one hundred may be present in a small area. Then, on some unknown cue, groups of 3-30 seals leave the launch pad at intervals of 10-15 seconds.’ ‘The seals adopt a high speed criss crossing within the groups, which must be designed to confuse sharks with a pattern of blending bodies, making it hard to identify an individual target. This is all about safety in numbers. With more eyes in the water it makes it that much harder for sharks to go un- detected. If a seal does detect an ap- proaching shark, the others will react to its behaviour, and in a split second the entire group rapidly changes direction. Not surprisingly therefore, the sharks’ hunting success on groups of seals is only 15% While the famous sharks of seal Island undoubtedly steal the limelight, not nearly enough can be said about the amazing anti predatory displays and survival instinct displayed by the seals.’ TURNING THE TABLES

Some fur seals have learned to kill sharks - mostly small species such as catsharks, but also (seen here) blue sharks up to 1.5m in length. They target the oil-rich liver, remov- ing it with a surgeon’s precision, of- ten discarding the rest of the shark. “This seal ate only the stomach and liver before moving on to its next vic- tim”, says Chris. “I saw it take five blue sharks in the space of a couple of hours! At that point we moved the boat a few miles away, not wanting to attract any more sharks within its range!” “I have also photographed fur seals swimming very close to silky sharks [top left] and mako sharks [bottom left]” MAKO SHARK Isurus oxyrinchus

WEIGHT (grown): 60 - 500 kg LENGTH: 2.6 - 4.5 m TOP SPEED: more than 70 km/h ‘Almost everyone is familiar with the Great Since 1998, we have done hundreds of free White Shark yet only a fraction of the gener- dives with makos and never once have any al public is aware of the great white’s faster of our guests or our crew been threatened by and arguably more beautiful closest relative, one. It is simply magical to be in their com- the mako shark’, says Fallows. pany.’ ‘Called “Blue Dynamite” by sport fisher- ‘These masters of the open ocean feed prin- men, the mako has a reputation for explo- cipally on game fish such as tuna and occa- sive bursts of speed when attacking its prey sionally even broadbill swordfish. There are (or longlines, which sadly kill millions of several records of makos that have been sharks each year). In 1998, when we first caught with 3 foot long bills of swordfish still proposed free diving with the makos off impaled in their sides, testimony no doubt to the tip of Cape Town’s Cape Point, the local titanic open ocean battles.’ fishermen thought we would end up in Davy ‘The mako can grow to over 4.0m in length, Jones’ locker. I remember well my trepida- with the largest ever specimen coming from tion when I slipped into the water with a two the French coast at close to 4.5m. The ones meter mako cruising through our chum slick. we see off Cape Point are usually around What emerged from the boat’s bubbles was 4-5ft in length and are still youngsters. Oc- a magnificently designed cobalt blue bullet casionally however, larger sharks approach- with large black eyes. With a flick of its tail, ing 7-9 feet glide into our wake. the shark moved from cruising speed to a It is a truly magnificent sight to watch them, lightning-fast blur. It could have been on top as sunlight dances along their royal blue of me in a second if it wanted. flanks.’ For years people have trav- spring from Antarctica) and elled to South Africa to see the African penguin, with the famous Big Five land more than 1,000 breeding mammals - lions, leopards, pairs at Boulders beach elephant, rhino and buffalo. alone. But False Bay plays host to When you add orcas, large its very own Big Five. game fish and the 20 differ- Joining the great white, com- ent species of shark that can mon dolphin and cape fur be seen in the area, it’s clear seal are the southern right to see why False Bay is often whale (18-metre-long giants known as the ‘Serengeti of that arrive in the southern the Sea’. Search www.naturepl.com for: “Fallows False Bay”

Contact: [email protected] +44 (0)117 911 4675

Chris and Monique Fallows own Apex Shark Ex- peditions based in Simon’s Town, Cape Town. They are wildlife naturalists and are absolutely passionate about sharks, spending at least 150 days at sea every year working with a variety of shark species. Find out about their shark tours at www.apexpredators.com.