Join Us On An Amazing Shark Diving & Photographic Experience

BLACKTIP SHARKS (Carcharhinus Limbatus)

 

On any given day through out the year “chumming” or calling up of sharks brings in numerous Blacktip Sharks.

This is a fast, shoaling specie of shark that generally hunts in the mid-water region of inshore waters and is found along most of the East African seaboard.
Their diet consists largely of bony fish including fast game fish, the juveniles of other shark species, stingrays, cuttlefish, and crayfish.

These species can be interacted with in a safe and enjoyable manner and can produce some amazing photographic opportunities. On any given dive one can expect to see anything between 10 and 100 of these beautiful animals.

 

 

TIGER SHARK (Galeocerdo Cuvier)

 

This shark has always had a fearful reputation amongst swimmers, divers and fisherman world wide. It is fairly common along the East coast of Africa, extending down at times as far south as Cape St Francis in the province of the Eastern Cape of South Africa.
This is a huge, striped shark with a broad, bluntly rounded snout and a big mouth with larger, saw-edged, cockscomb shaped teeth.

 

 

Grey in colour above with a white belly with vertical dark grey to black bars and spots, bold in young but fading in adult. These predators have been known to grow up to a massive 7m and have the reputation as being the most opportunistic and diverse feeders of all sharks. Its known to eat other sharks, rays, bony fish, birds, turtles, sea snakes, lobsters, crabs, cuttlefish and mammalian carrion, also known to swallow a wide variety of inorganic garbage....”food” to the Tiger can mean anything from plastic bags and tin cans to the remains of livestock and humans... a number plates have been found in one particular specimens content!

 

 

The tiger shark’s ability to adapt its feeding habits has made it one species which has a positive growth rate, in an environment where other species are fast disappearing. These are inquisitive, intelligent animals once again producing spectacular photographic opportunities. They are summer residents and can be regularly encountered on most dives during the months of November through to May.

ZAMBEZI SHARK (Carcharhinus Leucas)

 

The Zambezi (also known as the BULL shark in other parts of the world) is a powerful, circumglobal predator which is a common resident to Natal waters and ranges along most of Africa's Eastern seaboard.

These sharks are often found in estuary systems, sometimes many miles upstream where the water is no longer saline. If fact recordings have found them as far up the Zambezi River as 400km and an even more impressive distance is just over 3000 km up the Amazon River.

Robust and dangerous, this grey shark should be treated with great caution as many attacks on humans have been attributed to it. It has no distinct markings, but has a high dorsal fin and broad triangular saw-edged upper teeth. It feeds mainly on bony fish, small sharks and Dolphins. Zambi's are frequently encountered on our local reefs and on baited dives.

 

Dusky Sharks (Carcharhinus Obscurus)

 

The Dusky is a shy animal which is commonly caught by shore anglers and found in shark nets. They can grow to a size of 4.2m and range along most of the East African seaboard and are regularly encountered by spear fishermen and on baited dives. Their diet consists of a large array of sea creatures from other sharks, pelagic fish and rays through to bottom dwelling species of fish and lobsters. They are potentially dangerous, but have not been implicated in shark attacks in the area. A number of other shark species occasionally make an appearance on the bait stem including the odd Great White.

Ragged Tooth Sharks (Carcharias Taurus)

 

Another common visitor to our coast is the Ragged Tooth Shark, also known as the Grey Nurse in other parts of the world. These sharks congregate on the Aliwal Shoal for a couple of months every year, between July through to November allowing people to dive and observe their natural behavior on a daily basis. Guide lines and a code of ethics have been established in order to enjoy the interaction in a non-threatening and safe manner to avoid upsetting their pattern of reproduction. These sharks are generally sluggish in movement and ferocious looking with their permanently open jaws displaying rows of jagged teeth. Divers have been studying and interacting with this specie for years on the Aliwal Shoal and has become a well known phenomena through out the diving fraternity world wide.

 

 

Hammerhead Sharks

 

This common pelagic shark is often seen near the surface in singularly or occasionally in large packs, usually near land where it preys mainly on bony fish and squid.
Seasonal variations in abundance occur and most hammerheads are encountered between February and May.

 

Three different species occur on our coastline.

 

• The Great Hammerhead (S.Mokarran)
• Smooth Hammerhead (S.Zygaena)
• Scalloped Hammerhead (S.Lewini)

 

The latter two can attain a size of up to 3.5m in length. Though these sharks are plentiful they are shy and elusive, even so, they are often encountered on the deeper reefs and occasionally come in on the bait drum. This is truly a shark that myths were made of due to the strange shape of its head.