I have an idea for a new thread...

[MTBeer]

[100Tours]

 

Still, there's Covid on the beach - might be better off 

[Patchelicious]

Still, there's Covid on the beach - might be better off 

Agreed, at the rate and sheer volume of sh!t that would have filled my wet suit, the shark would be the one needing a face mask.

[Kranswurm]

That's Plett.

My cousins SIL was attacked while surfing there by a GW a few years ago and died on the beach

Don't F*ck around when they are around

Some time ago my son and I were sitting beyond the back line at Muzies when the siren went.The GW swam between a couples boards next to us.Never caught a wave so quick.Sat on the wall chatting about it after.They were cool as a cucumber about it.I suppose what can you do.It is what it is.

Edited June 24, 2020 by Kranswurm

[BSG]

That's Plett.

My cousins SIL was attacked while surfing there by a GW a few years ago and died on the beach

Don't F*ck around when they are around

Some time ago my son and I were sitting beyond the back line at Muzies when the siren went.The GW swam between a couples boards next to us.Never caught a wave so quick.Sat on the wall chatting about it after.They were cool as a cucumber about it.I suppose what can you do.It is what it is.

I scuba dived Protea Banks, Southern Natal, only once. Sea was quite rough and we were told that when we surface one must do so one by one and to not make any safety stops because of GW, Tiger Sharks and Hammerheads. Well I saw all 3 including Ragget tooth sharks, was a pretty sight but o my word, nerve wrecking when one went up. As you hit the surface you must be out of your BC so that the skipper can load you asap. He would only then load one's scuba kit. It was very scary.

[Bonus]

 

You really wouldn't want to be the last sucker left behind when your mates all catch the same wave!  

[Bateleur1]

That's Plett.

My cousins SIL was attacked while surfing there by a GW a few years ago and died on the beach

Don't F*ck around when they are around

Some time ago my son and I were sitting beyond the back line at Muzies when the siren went.The GW swam between a couples boards next to us.Never caught a wave so quick.Sat on the wall chatting about it after.They were cool as a cucumber about it.I suppose what can you do.It is what it is.

 

That'll be the day I start running on water.

[DJR]

That'll be the day I start running on water.

.....and with me leaving skidmarks on water

[Robbie Stewart]

 

This shows that sharks generally are not "out to get you". If that shark wanted to, it would have made a meal of any one of them. They clearly don't know it's there.

 

I was in Buffelsbaai one day in December 2017 visiting a mate, and while we were chatting away at the restaurant, a helicopter came flying over the beach, and banked sharply as it passed, and came back over the shore break where hundred or more people were swimming. The chopper hovered and a passenger was hanging out the side furiously waving and gesturing at something. The pilot came lower and lower and then some people started clearing the water.

 

Later that evening my mate sent me a video clip that he received from the chopper pilot who was an acquaintance of his. 4 x BIG GW sharks swimming between the bathers. No one got attacked.

 

But, ja, lives have been lost at Buffels due to shark attacks, so one never knows when it's your lucky day. Plett also has had its share of attacks.

Two mates of mine were attacked by GW sharks. One in Wilderness and the other at Groenvlei between Sedgefield and Buffelsbaai. Both survived, but cancer finally won out for one of them.

 

Closest I came to GW was at Outerpool in Mosselbay. I was out surfing with a few locals, and caught a wave. When I got back to the top, they were all gone. I caught another bomb, and then another. I could not believe my luck. That's when I noticed the screaming on the rocks, and saw the same blokes all shouting at me and pointing at something behind me. I turned and looked, and saw a dorsal fin cruising about 30 meters away from me, not at me, but in the general area I was in. It was a large fin. I paddled for the next wave, caught it and surfed it out. I always reckoned that the shark knows about me loooooong before I see it, and if it has not attacked me by the time I see it, it probably wont. This video kind of supports that theory.

[geomark]

I scuba dived Protea Banks, Southern Natal, only once. Sea was quite rough and we were told that when we surface one must do so one by one and to not make any safety stops because of GW, Tiger Sharks and Hammerheads. Well I saw all 3 including Ragget tooth sharks, was a pretty sight but o my word, nerve wrecking when one went up. As you hit the surface you must be out of your BC so that the skipper can load you asap. He would only then load one's scuba kit. It was very scary.

Coming back to shore from a dive we were tooling along in the middle of no-where and suddenly there was a great white next to us, just minding her own business and cruising at a steady pace from A to B, and we had slowly overtaken her.  The one instructor, who was already 1 leg short, grabbed fins and a camera and hopped in to get some photos! Great white ignored him flat and kept tooling along, still not sure if he read the situation correctly or just got lucky. 

[stefmeister]

This shows that sharks generally are not "out to get you". If that shark wanted to, it would have made a meal of any one of them. They clearly don't know it's there.

 

I was in Buffelsbaai one day in December 2017 visiting a mate, and while we were chatting away at the restaurant, a helicopter came flying over the beach, and banked sharply as it passed, and came back over the shore break where hundred or more people were swimming. The chopper hovered and a passenger was hanging out the side furiously waving and gesturing at something. The pilot came lower and lower and then some people started clearing the water.

 

Later that evening my mate sent me a video clip that he received from the chopper pilot who was an acquaintance of his. 4 x BIG GW sharks swimming between the bathers. No one got attacked.

 

 

Years before CT started with their shark spotting, a family member in the Navy showed us footage they regularly took of sharks chilling out between bathers. They've always been there, and I don't think we've seen any significant increase in attacks over the last few years since we've became 'aware' of them.

[DJR]

............Closest I came to GW was at ................

..............Big Bay Blouberg, a little longer ago than I'd like to admit to.

 

We were sailing and the life savers called us all in because they spotted a great white. None of us ever saw a thing. We were a bit pissed when after more than an hour sitting on the beach, with the southeaster howling and the waves just right, we still saw no sharks ourselves. Soon after that the sailing started up again and yes, young DJR was right at the front of the slalom pack and well on his way to round the outer buoy when I launched off the last wave and as I went airborne saw a big black shape exactly where I was going to land. Nothing could be done about it because, just like a bike, once a windsurfer is airborne, you are committed. You can whip the tail, do a flip, even a loop, but all that will not change the fact that you are going to have to land more or less where you aimed when you took off. Adrenaline pumped, nearly left skid marks.......and I landed........centimetres (ok, maybe a metre) away from a really big seal! But I kept it together, and was away and around the buoy before the seal could **** himself or change into a shark! Safely back on the beach I opened the OBS and after a smoke (I did back then  ) to steady the nerves and a few mouthfuls of sherry to stop the shivering (from the cold of course), I packed up, telling my friends that I have a test first thing in the morning and that I better get a bit of studying in!

[MTBeer]

..............Big Bay Blouberg, a little longer ago than I'd like to admit to.

 

We were sailing and the life savers called us all in because they spotted a great white. None of us ever saw a thing. We were a bit pissed when after more than an hour sitting on the beach, with the southeaster howling and the waves just right, we still saw no sharks ourselves. Soon after that the sailing started up again and yes, young DJR was right at the front of the slalom pack and well on his way to round the outer buoy when I launched off the last wave and as I went airborne saw a big black shape exactly where I was going to land. Nothing could be done about it because, just like a bike, once a windsurfer is airborne, you are committed. You can whip the tail, do a flip, even a loop, but all that will not change the fact that you are going to have to land more or less where you aimed when you took off. Adrenaline pumped, nearly left skid marks.......and I landed........centimetres (ok, maybe a metre) away from a really big seal! But I kept it together, and was away and around the buoy before the seal could **** himself or change into a shark! Safely back on the beach I opened the OBS and after a smoke (I did back then  ) to steady the nerves and a few mouthfuls of sherry to stop the shivering (from the cold of course), I packed up, telling my friends that I have a test first thing in the morning and that I better get a bit of studying in!

ah Big Bay in the old days. Beach braais in the gravel parking area at night. Loads of windsurfing, beer, and OBS. Good memories. Never saw a GW there but quite a few occasions a basking shark used to make the manne k@k themselves a bit

[capediver]

This shows that sharks generally are not "out to get you". If that shark wanted to, it would have made a meal of any one of them. They clearly don't know it's there.

 

I was in Buffelsbaai one day in December 2017 visiting a mate, and while we were chatting away at the restaurant, a helicopter came flying over the beach, and banked sharply as it passed, and came back over the shore break where hundred or more people were swimming. The chopper hovered and a passenger was hanging out the side furiously waving and gesturing at something. The pilot came lower and lower and then some people started clearing the water.

 

Later that evening my mate sent me a video clip that he received from the chopper pilot who was an acquaintance of his. 4 x BIG GW sharks swimming between the bathers. No one got attacked.

 

But, ja, lives have been lost at Buffels due to shark attacks, so one never knows when it's your lucky day. Plett also has had its share of attacks.

Two mates of mine were attacked by GW sharks. One in Wilderness and the other at Groenvlei between Sedgefield and Buffelsbaai. Both survived, but cancer finally won out for one of them.

 

Closest I came to GW was at Outerpool in Mosselbay. I was out surfing with a few locals, and caught a wave. When I got back to the top, they were all gone. I caught another bomb, and then another. I could not believe my luck. That's when I noticed the screaming on the rocks, and saw the same blokes all shouting at me and pointing at something behind me. I turned and looked, and saw a dorsal fin cruising about 30 meters away from me, not at me, but in the general area I was in. It was a large fin. I paddled for the next wave, caught it and surfed it out. I always reckoned that the shark knows about me loooooong before I see it, and if it has not attacked me by the time I see it, it probably wont. This video kind of supports that theory.

I think the shark research community have, after many years of studying sharks worldwide, come up with a theory on shark behavior and attacks.....the theory is.....there is no theory. End.

[Duane_Bosch]

Two mates of mine were attacked by GW sharks. One in Wilderness and the other at Groenvlei between Sedgefield and Buffelsbaai. Both survived, but cancer finally won out for one of them.

 

Note to self. Never make friends with anyone named Robbie

[Hairy]

ah Big Bay in the old days. Beach braais in the gravel parking area at night. Loads of windsurfing, beer, and OBS. Good memories. Never saw a GW there but quite a few occasions a basking shark used to make the manne k@k themselves a bit

A moment in time I will never forget.

 

We were still at school and would hitch hike to BB, Derde Steen or Melkbos to go body boarding .... the following stories apply.

 

BB, (1) a misty as hell day where you had just a few meters visibility. We were out the water walking back to the road over the grass banks and we stumbled upon two very lovely ladies. We started chatting and they then started playing their guitars and singing....they must have been angels, there can be no other plausible explanation. (2) The typical surfing with seals thing.

 

3rde Steen, we came home from a night on town and managed to get a lift to the beach around 2-3am'ish. We slept on our boards, in our wet suits. I woke with the first rays of the sun, and got out into the water that was a smooth as glass, but still had some decent surf. That time of the day the water looked like mercury ... got out, played around and then saw a dorsal fin appear ... and I was the only person in the water. I poeped myself, then saw more and more fins appearing. IT was a huge school of dolphins that came to swim around me ... what a moment in life ... I can still see them and hear them in my minds eye when I would dive under the water!

 

Melkbos, Only person in the water, early morning, fishing boats not far from where I was with birds diving into the water getting breakfast. My first thought was that I was sure the sharks were also out getting breakfast. The break was far out, so that means so too was I. Got this massive thump against my thigh ... paddle out of there like a speed boat .... looked over my shoulder to see a big fat bloody piece of seaweed where I had just left.