PIERRE CONSTANT goes on a tiger shark hunt in South Africa, although for some time it seems as if the weather will refuse to play ball
Planted with palm bushes and Norfolk pines, the small city of Umkomaas is 40km south of Durban, on the KwaZulu-Natal coast. Constructed on lush inexperienced heights, the town faces the open house of the Indian Ocean.
The South African jap shores appear to stretch endlessly, a succession of lengthy white sandy seashores and granitic rocky capes, the place the surf of the nice blue yonder comes crashing and rolling in barrels of froth.
Uncovered to the oceanic winds, the coast was devastated by a robust cyclone coming from Madagascar, and the tar street collapsed onto the seashore under.
Whereas his armies plundered Pondoland in 1828, the nice chief and warrior Shaka Zulu gave this website the title of Umkhomazi, which within the Zulu language means “River of the Cow Whales”.
Whales used to come back up the river into contemporary water however these days the river mouth is just too shallow. Nevertheless, yearly from Could to August the east coast of KwaZulu-Natal witnesses a giant gathering of humpback whales migrating up from Antarctica to Madagascar to breed.
They head south once more with their calves between September and December. Minke whales be part of the membership, in addition to southern proper whales, which observe the annual “Sardine Run” in July and August.
The ruins of the Norwegian whaling trade are nonetheless seen – the Park Renie whaling boats that operated from 1915 to 1929. Strandlopers, prehistoric males of the San or Khoïkhoï tribes, used to walk down the seashore to search for stranded whales and sea-lions on which to feed.
South Africa’s sharks
South Africa’s waters are wealthy in marine life. Think about a group of two,000 species of fish! Greater than half of those are tropical or subtropical species of the Indo-Pacific, 4% come from the Atlantic and 13% are endemic to South Africa. A tremendous 100 species of sharks inhabit these waters – a 3rd of all these on the planet – although many are in very deep waters.
The shores of KwaZulu-Natal are bathed by the Agulhas Present, a warmwater stream that branches off the South Equatorial Present, with a world north-east to south-west route.
Within the Cape of Good Hope area this present vanishes – with just a few eddies – because it meets the Benguela Present, a coldwater mass that flows north from Antarctica alongside South Africa’s west coast in direction of Namibia and past.
These two currents create, in accordance with their depth, winter or summer season, and this explains the distribution of fish populations, together with these of the sharks.
Species akin to the nice white, mako, copper shark aka bronze whaler, clean hammerhead and smaller benthic species choose the chilly waters of the Cape or the Transkei.
Others select the nice and cozy atmosphere of KwaZulu-Natal and Mozambique, together with the fearsome Zambezi or bull shark, the dusky, Java and oceanic blacktip, the scalloped and nice hammerhead… and the tiger shark.
The Natal coast has gained a sinister repute on account of bathers being bitten by sharks. Shark-nets have been first put in off Durban in 1952.
Within the Nineteen Forties, ’50s and ’60s most incidents in South Africa occurred in KwaZulu-Natal, and immediately 40km of nets are positioned at 37 localities alongside 325km of its shoreline. It’s the one province outfitted with shark-nets and, in accordance with the Natal Shark Board, these seize between 800 and a couple of,200 sharks a 12 months.
Water-users should not 100% protected, and on common 4 shark incidents happen in South Africa yearly, out of 70-100 worldwide. One in 9 leads to a severe damage, and one in 15 is deadly.
From 1987 the reefs of Aliwal Shoal, south of Durban, began attracting a brand new breed of divers that got here to dive with the raggies or raggedtooth sharks (Carcharias taurus). These are variously referred to as gray nurse sharks in jap Australia and sand tigers within the USA.
Aliwal Shoal’s heyday is over, I’m informed, the place spoilt by the presence of too many divers. Pristine new reefs have been found by a contemporary wave of operators, some from abroad.
The shark couple
Dietmar Posch had all the time needed to be a swimmer, and was a part of Austria’s Olympic staff. As challenge supervisor for a resort in Mexico’s Playa del Carmen in 1992 he began diving with mako, gray reef and nurse sharks within the Gulf of Mexico and have become a shark fanatic.
After 5 years he returned to Europe, obtained his skilled dive certifications with PADI, ANDI and TDI and obtained into underwater videography.
He labored for Austrian and German TV and the BBC earlier than taking off to the Purple Sea, the place he met his Italian associate Raffaella, an underwater photographer. Seduced by the concept of working with tiger sharks, the couple determined to settle in South Africa in early 2004.
“We should put together the rabbadak…”, declares Raffaella, in her sturdy Italian accent.
“Rabbadak? What’s that?” I ask, puzzled. The reason is given by John Miller, skipper of the boat. The rubber duck is a 7.5m RIB with a glass-fibre hull, the standard selection for South African beach-launch diving.
Geared up with two 85hp Yamaha outboard motors, it might carry eight divers. Flashy pink with sooty gray floats, the boat sports activities a attribute ‘beak’.
We head for Rocky Bay, 12km south of Umkomaas, the place the lengthy sandy seashore ends with just a few granite boulders. On a trailer behind the Land Cruiser 4×4, the rubber duck goes backwards into the deep sand of the seashore and is dropped on the water’s edge.
The rolling surf growls within the background, a warning of the enjoyable to come back. The divers push the boat into the water earlier than hopping in swiftly. “Slip your toes into the footholds of the ground and seize the ropes on the edges!” yells John.
We velocity throughout the wave and are available out of it drenched to the bone, with an anticipated slam of our collective backsides. Everybody breaks into laughter.
Citadel Reef is 2km away. Dietmar fills an previous washing-machine drum with dorado carcasses and sardines. “That is the meals basket that can entice tigers,” he says. 4 packs of frozen sardines are piled on the again.
Tied to a sequence and a buoy, the basket is lowered about 8m under the floor, and Dietmar throws items of sardines overboard as bait. Furtive shadows seem rapidly beneath the floor – oceanic blacktip sharks (Carcharhinus. limbatus) and dusky sharks (C obscurus), 1.5-2m lengthy.
“I want to offer you a small briefing earlier than we bounce in,” says Dietmar as the positioning begins to swarm with sharks. “We’ll slip into the water one after the other with out a splash… no matter occurs, you have to stay calm and relaxed… keep collectively at a depth of 8-12m max to keep away from a curtain of bubbles.
“If a shark comes too shut, push it gently on the nostril or the gills, it can flip away without delay”. Simple to say, mate.
Dietmar demonstrates the aggressive shows of sharks: the arched again, the pectoral fins vertical, sudden lateral convulsions of the physique.
“After 45 to 60 minutes, the tiger shark might show an aggressive behaviour, it could have an curiosity in your first stage, in your vibrant fins [yellow or silver], or in any shiny object that displays the sunshine. If that’s the case, we’ll exit the water instantly.”
Into the water
Everyone nods in settlement. We slip beneath the floor, like ghosts. Sharks are in every single place, extraordinarily inquisitive. No concern in anyway, swarming about like a cloud of butterflies between the ‘basket’ and the floor.
Some swim in circles, others zoom in on me and divert on the final second. Others go by lower than a metre away, simply sufficient to impress anxiousness.
The duskies are mild brown and about 2m lengthy, with a spherical snout and likewise distinguished by a dorsal fin set behind the pectorals. An interdorsal ridge or keel is conspicuous behind the 2 dorsal fins. The pelagic blacktips (C limbatus) have a pointed snout, black-tipped fins and an arched again.
Forty minutes go however there isn’t a signal of a tiger shark immediately. Again on the rubber duck, Dietmar feeds the leftover sardines to the sharks.
Climate intervenes
Subsequent day the climate is uninviting, with black sky and rain, and the diving is cancelled. As a comfort, Raffaella takes us to the uShaka Aquarium in Durban, which is properly price a glance.
It’s the identical story the next day, with fixed misty rain and the water soiled. “That is nature, you already know…”
The following day brings clear skies however the present just isn’t in our favour, and visibility is poor. All of us really feel fairly depressing. “No diving immediately,” laments Dietmar.
A few of us are turning bitter and pessimistic, however on the fourth day the circumstances are acceptable. The Agulhas Present is operating north-south, visibility is okay and the grins return: “Let’s go!”
In South Africa, oceanographic and meteorological circumstances are exhausting to foretell and may change drastically from sooner or later to the subsequent. It’s smart to plan just a few further days to keep away from disappointment.
The ocean is lake-flat and the water cobalt blue. Dietmar brings down the meals drum and pours overboard the chum, a smelly mixture of fish oil, blood and viscera to go away a hint within the delicate present. This can, we hope, encourage the tiger to make its technique to the supply.
“We don’t need to promote adrenaline dives, feeding the sharks in extra, however we do want a minimal to draw them,” says Raffaella.
A couple of minutes later I’m beneath water, near the hanging basket. Some sharks circle on the floor as I stare into the blue. Nothing occurs within the first 10 minutes, then abruptly a swift shadow glides from behind and comes alongside me. Startled, I shiver mechanically.
The shark is massive, 4m maybe. It disappears immediately, however returns 5 minutes later, once more from behind me. This time I’ve time to absorb its lateral stripes.
I attempt to management my feelings; the imaginative and prescient is phantasmagoric. The shark’s actions are sluggish and chic, nearly catlike, and really swish. I really feel breathless. The beast of such an terrible repute is in entrance of me, its black eyes trying into mine.
With that conspicuous blunt snout, I’ve seen nothing prefer it earlier than. The white nictitating membrane outlines the attention like a crescent moon.
With out aggression the tiger shark sniffs the basket, then comes in direction of me. It returns to the basket, attempting to chew into it, catches the chain and shakes it.
“We used a rope prior to now,” Raffaella has mentioned, “however the tiger might minimize it. As soon as, the basket fell. I attempted to recuperate it, however the tiger attacked it between my legs. I needed to let go, as a result of it grew to become quite nervous”.
Shark behaviour
Tiger sharks like heat water and are normally discovered from Mozambique to KwaZulu-Natal between December to April. They frequent inshore waters and murky estuaries. Sexual maturity is reached at 4-6, and breeding takes place within the north of Natal.
A typical litter has some 35 pups, each 60cm lengthy at delivery. Most measurement of adults is 7m, weight 800kg and common lifespan is 30 years.
Opportunistic feeders, they’re typically solitary and most energetic at evening. These scavengers will feed on something from marine mammals to turtles, seabirds, fish and cephalopods. Serrated tooth allow the tiger to chop and tear flesh successfully. They may additionally ingest tin cans, plastics and all that glitters.
Raffaella is photographing the primary tiger because it sniffs the basket and now a second shark approaches her surreptitiously from behind. It grabs the hose of her second stage and pulls it gently backwards as if it needs to play!
Unaware of the scenario, Raffaella believes a diver is attempting to draw her consideration and brings her hand behind her in an try and push away the intruder. The scenario has its humorous facet.
Dietmar has seen all of it and acts rapidly to repel the tiger by poking its nostril along with his stick. Now anxious, he alerts all people to floor. The sport is sufficient. A vivid picture that can perpetually stay in my reminiscence. The rule of the mighty is all the time regulation.
