Fin!

Non-surfskiers often ask me if I ever see sharks and if I worry about them.

Since a lot of my paddling happens in False Bay (home of the Great White) I do think about sharks at times, but I try put it in perspective, the fact is you are more likely to die in the bath than be bitten by a shark. So I don't worry about sharks, I do worry about bad drivers though.

Until two weeks ago I had never seen a shark whilst surfskiing. I'd been lucky to experience whales, dolphins, penguins, sun-fish and seals. I did once see a shark gumming the buoy I had paddled around 15 minutes before, but by then I was safely on the beach.

That was until two weeks ago when my brother and I set off into a light south-easterly from Glencairn beach headed for Roman Rock lighthouse and Boulders beach. My brother is still fairly new to surfskiing and athough wobbly on the Hammerhead he manages to stay upright most of the time.

When we were about 2km out to sea a triangular shape cutting through the chop caught my eye , it was about 100m ahead and to the left of us. First I thought it was a dolphin - we had seen dolphins a few days before - but this fin did not bob up and down as dolphins do. I also ruled out it being a sunfish by the way the fin stood vertically and moved determinedly at quite a speed.

I shouted Fin! (and made an expression like this :o ) to my brother, who a first did not see it, and continued on a collision course. Then he crested a swell and confimed the unfortunate likelyhood that we were about to meet up with an apex predator. My immediate instinct was to flee and I turned downwind headed for the shore which seemed alarmingly far away.

My brother seemed to take an age to turn as he struggled to get used to the changing motion of the sea while turning, and all the while concentrating hard on not falling out. I figured that the best strategy was to stick close together and try look as big and untasty as possible. I could hardly leave my own brother behind.

I never saw the fin again although I did peer over my shoulder quite a few times. I never really felt scared, I did feel vulnerable and my adrenaline was certainly pumping, I also felt disappointed that my planned paddle was interupted.

Once close to the shore we hugged the coastline and had a great paddle to Simonstown. Once there we pottered around the Navy docks until a young Able-Seawoman politely informed us that, technically, we were not allowed to paddle in the harbour, never mind climb out and walk about the ships. (The new South Africa is great, I remember being rudely chased by gun-toting recces in Langebaan during the '80's just for wandering in their stretch of the lagoon).

We estimated the fin to be about 12-18 inches above the water, I have no idea how big the shark was or even if it was a great white. I don't know if it was aware of us either, it did not change course and it looked like it had urgent business elsewhere. I liked it that way. 8)

"It is better to be on the shore wishing to be at sea, than to be at sea wishing to be on the shore." - unknown author and I probably got it wrong

A few weeks back I had a long chat to Alison Koch. She is doing her PHD thesis on GW movements & predations. As someone fairly new to surfski paddling, and doing most of my paddling in False Bay, I have been following the various "encounters" with more than a passing interest, and decided to ask her about the GW movements. Her answers were very interesting!

She has placed approx 36 accoustic monitors on the seabed in False Bay, mostly along the coast from Muizenberg to Millers, and around Seal Island. She has also tagged approx 80 GWs with accoustic transmitters. When a tagged GW swims within about 500m of a monitor, the monitor records the movement of the shark and the tags are personalised so she knows which shark it is.

I asked her the following:

Q. When is the safest time of year to paddle in the bay?

A. From Jan to Aug is safest. The GWs cluster around Seal Island from June to August to coincide with the baby seals taking their first swims. From Sep to Dec the GWs patrol the coastal areas (basically swim up and down the coast along the backline) and this is the time to be most careful. From Jan to May the GWs disappear and nobody really knows where they go. This is obviously the base pattern and it is still possible to see the odd individual shark along the coast in the "off" months.

Q. Which is the "busiest" stretch of the coast under monitoring? (Since most of the encounters have taken place between Fish Hoek and Glen Cairn, usually around Sunny Cove, I thought this would be the obvious answer!)

A. The stretch from Simonstown Harbour to Millers Point.

As a fairly novice paddler, my favourite route is downwind from Millers to Simonstown! Oh dear...

But it's not all bad. As a diving instructor with 20 years of diving in False Bay I have yet to see a GW underwater (except when I have been diving close to Seal Island). As a paddler with about 1 years paddling in False Bay I have not seen anything that resembles any part of a GW's anatomy. My personal rule... I stay out of the bay during Sept, Oct, Nov & Dec, and paddle without worry during the remainder of the year.

Regards
Jean.

After yet another cancellation of the Round Robben Island race due to bad weather (mist this time) I considered suggesting to Billy that he change the race to Round Seal Island ;D.

There is rarely mist in False Bay due to the warmer water.

But then Seal Island has its own toothy problem and I don't know of anyone who has paddled around it.....