Facing the Apex Predator with Shark Bookings

When talking about adventure, one imagines zooming down sandy dunes atop a Laminex sand board, plummeting towards the earth with a resplendent parachute whistling in the wind, or dangling off a rocky mountain while attached to a harness. But this is not true adventure, as some adventurists might say. True adventure is finding yourself face to face with one of the world's most feared underwater predators with nothing but a glinting steel cage between you and the apex predator. This adrenalin fueled experience is better known as shark cage diving.

While there are a number of adventure tour companies and shark cage diving companies in Cape Town, Shark Bookings has been around for over a decade and remains one of the most revered booking agencies for cage diving Gansbaai.

Based in the small Western Cape town of Gansbaai, Shark Bookings is ideally situated for diving experiences and encounters with the fearsome great white shark. Popular shark cage diving locations such as Geyser Rock, Shark Alley and Dyer Island are home to large numbers of great white sharks, which means shark sightings are almost always guaranteed.

Although Shark Bookings is mostly focused on shark cage diving in Gansbaai, they also offer diving packages in a number of other diving destinations, including Cape Town, Durban, Mossel Bay and the south-east African country of Mozambique.

Some of the carefully organized diving trips include: a Great White Shark Cage Diving package, a Whale Watching Ocean Safari, a Shark Diving and Helicopter Flight combination package, a Tiger Shark dive, and Manta Ray and Whale Shark dive packages.

To find out more about these and other cage diving Gansbaai and Mozambique dive packages, visit Shark Bookings or contact Dave or Elna Caravias:

Email: enquiries@sharkbookings.com
Telephone: 0027 (0) 82 466 4519
Facsimile: 0027 (0) 28 384 3763

Originally posted on: Travel South Africa Today
Source: travelsouthafricatoday.wordpress.com/2012/11/27/facing-the-apex-predator-with-shark-bookings

Shark cage diving

You get fantastic shark cage diving in Gaansbaai. and scuba diving tour packages. The Great White Shark Diving Company offers an experience of a life time which is definitely worth its price.

It is such a personalised experience to be face to face with the sharks. If you are a photographer this would be one of the best moments to get those perfect shots of the marine life, even while you are shark cage diving. Definitely one of the most frightening moments I’m sure you will ever experience in your life. If you are a serious shark enthusiast their company even offers five or ten day trips as well.

It offers you that once in a lifetime eye to eye contact with a great white shark. So if you are feeling courageous and daring enough, you should definitely go shark cage diving.

Source : Apex Predators

Horror Shark Attacks

Close on 73 million sharks are murdered each year, and this is a conservative claim. If the wholesale slaughter of these magnificently adapted creatures is not stopped with immediate effect, sharks may well join the ranks of the dodo, the Tasmanian wolf and the quagga.

Conservation bodies are struggling to get the attention of world governments in an effort to regulate shark fisheries but the fact that sharks have a poor public image in conjunction with the low economic viability of these fisheries has made this task near to impossible.

7.8 million sharks killed off the Southern African coast alone

Recent literature published in the National Geographic suggests that 7.8 million sharks are killed off the Southern African coast alone each year, and largely by mistake. Hooks intended for other maritime creatures often find sharks instead and although recreational fishermen are slowly embracing a ‘catch and release’ method, many opt to remove the shark from the planet permanently.

The insatiable Asian appetite for shark fin soup and other mythical delicacies has elevated the status of at least 1/5 of all shark species to the seriously endangered list but it is not only the rampant killing that is so disturbing, it is the unconscionable cruelty that shows a total lack of respect for the species.

Unconscionable cruelty

The fin is generally removed with a hot metal blade but instead of putting the critically maimed creature out of its misery, it is simply tossed back into the water to die a slow and painful death. The immobile victim will either suffocate or fall prey to other ocean going predators.

It is not only the east that is responsible for the unprecedented depletion of shark stocks throughout the world

• In Australia, the main ingredient of fish and chips is shark, disguised as ‘flake'.




• In India, baby sharks are considered a rare delicacy and are the main component of the popular dish ‘sora puttu’.




• In Iceland, the national dish is ‘hakarl’ or fermented shark.

Late maturation increases vulnerability

What makes the shark particularly vulnerable to extinction is the fact that they mature later than other animals and consequently cannot breed rapidly enough to sustain their populations. It has been documented that some species have declined by over 90% in the past 30 years but an overall 70% decline would not be out of the ballpark.

The Great white shark, vilified in the cult movie ‘Jaws’, has made it onto a rather unenviable list, that of the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species or C.I.T.E.S Appendix II list of endangered species but fortunately the sheer majesty and brute power of these sharks has won them a few friends.

Shark cage diving leads to a better understanding

Shark cage diving off the coast of Cape Town, for instance, has had a positive impact on the future of these beasts. By observing them closely in their natural habitat, a lot has been learnt of these demonized creatures of the deep. Finally some of the myths that have led to the brutal killing of this magnificent creature have been laid to rest but the industry as a whole needs to be effectively regulated if we are to protect the dwindling number of sharks in our waters.

Source: Article Base
Shark Cage diving Cape Town