Meet and greet in Shark Alley

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This was published 15 years ago

Meet and greet in Shark Alley

Face to face ... eyeballing a great white shark.

Face to face ... eyeballing a great white shark.Credit: Marine Dynamics

I take a deep breath and go under. The water is so cold my head spins. Although visibility is good, the water is darker than expected and it takes a moment for my eyes to adjust. At first, there is no sound, no movement. Then the great white shark appears.

My heart is pounding. I am out of breath. It is absolutely unreal.

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A mythology of terror is woven around sharks; they are the monsters of the deep, the villains in our movies, the dark shape we watch for in the water. So far this year, NSW has had five shark attacks.

So why on earth would anyone pay good money to get into the water with the most feared of all shark species: the great white? Because it is an unparalleled adrenaline rush. And there is no shortage of thrill-seekers joining me on the boat, Shark Fever, as it speeds out to Shark Alley.

One of the world's best-known shark hotspots, Shark Alley is six kilometres off the coast of Kleinbaai in South Africa. The shallow channel between Dyer Island and Geyser Rock is home to 60,000 seals, making it the perfect feeding ground for great whites.

It's also attracting another visitor in large numbers - tourists.

Shark cage diving is fast becoming one of South Africa's biggest drawcards. But the activity is controversial, with critics claiming it conditions the sharks to associate food with humans. The operators dispute this, arguing they don't feed the sharks and that the focus is on conservation and education.

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We drop anchor among a flotilla of boats off Dyer Island. Alison, a marine biologist, briefs us as the crew prepares the cage. She explains the three methods used to attract the sharks. The first is "chumming" the water with fish guts to leave a scent trail. A chunk of bait attached to a rope is then used to draw them in closer. Lastly, there's the wooden decoy, which, from a shark's perspective, looks like a baby seal.

Our first shark makes its presence known within minutes. The boat lists port-side as everyone jostles to get a look. A dark shape moves towards the boat and a fin breaks the surface. Half breaching, the great white snaps at the bait, revealing fairy floss-pink gums and a monster set of pearly whites.

At this point, the skipper grins and asks who wants to be first in the cage. Raised in a family of surfers, I have a healthy respect for the water and a deep-rooted fear of sharks: it is against every instinct I have to get into the water with them. But the sharks don't always hang around and I don't want to miss my chance to face my fear. I put my hand up.

The first shark seems to fade up from the shadows. He is three metres from nose to tail. His cream underbelly glows and his gun-metal body is pock-marked. He's in no rush and glides towards the surface, curving his tail slowly to propel himself upwards. He nudges the bait and fades into the gloom again.

With a patient rhythm the bait is thrown out to the sharks and they are lured in closer to the boat. I'd expected them to be fast and aggressive but instead they drift in and out of sight smoothly. At one point I count three great whites in the murk.

Although it's called cage diving, no breathing device is used, as the bubbles scare away the sharks. Instead, participants duck under when a shark approaches, gripping onto a steel bar inside the cage to steady themselves.

After a bug-eyed 10 minutes, it's time for the next group. I get out shivering, from cold and shock and adrenaline. I shake my head when someone asks me what it is like.

Back on deck, I join Alison to watch the sharks from above.

She explains that while the great white is undoubtedly an awesome predator, the hunter is also the hunted, with up to 100 million sharks of all species killed each year due to fin-poaching and commercial fishing activity. Great whites are particularly vulnerable to poaching - their jaws can fetch more than $US25,000. She agrees it's an uphill battle to convince the public that great whites are not man-eaters. Most attacks are by sharks being curious - they don't have hands to pick up strange objects for closer inspection, so they use their teeth.

Unfortunately, they're so powerful the injuries they inflict are often fatal.

Curious instead of killer is a hard sell. But during my second cage dive, I get so close to a great white I begin to believe it.

The skipper calls "down left", and we duck under. The shark feigns interest in the decoy, trailing behind it. But then, with a stealthy flick of his tail, he comes head-on at the cage. What really has his interest is me.

I grip the back of the cage for support as his head presses up against the steel mesh that protects us. His snout pushes into the cage, past the bar where my fingertips had just rested. The space between us is no more than half a metre.

His black, unblinking eyes size me up. I'm fairly sure he can see my heart in my mouth. He opens his jaw ever so slightly, so I can see his curved, serrated teeth. It's like a smug smile, as though he knows, and knows I know, he could eat me if he wanted to. With another tail flick, he's gone.

The encounter lasts less than two seconds but the image will be with me forever. We surface to the cheers of those on the boat and break out in whoops and laughter.

The experience is one of the most thrilling I've ever had. I still have a fear of sharks but it's now complemented by a healthy respect for their intelligence, curiosity and elegance.


TRIP NOTES


South African Airways flies from Sydney to Cape Town via Johannesburg. See www.flysaa.com and bazbus.com.


The Backpack in Cape Town offers boutique discount accommodation. See backpackers.co.za, phone +27 21 423 4530.


Marine Dynamics runs great white shark cage-diving trips daily. Cost is R1550 ($236), including return transfers from Cape Town, full breakfast, equipment and cage diving. Phone +27 28 384 1005, see sharkwatchsa.com. The best time for viewing is May to October.

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