Near Hermanus South Africa - a very cool day to be sure. I was by myself, so I hitched onto a boat full of French students. We had a 40 minute boat ride, and a quick dive briefing. We started by snorkeling inside the cage - and could use "hooka" regulators later.

No sharks for the first 1 1/2 hours - I was second shift, and the water was damn cold. Shivering, blue lips, in a cage with 5 French students. All of a sudden the divemaster yells "Down Down Down" and you let yourself sink to the bottom of the cage.

The first time all I saw was a blur, and upon coming up saw the tail of a shark leaving the scene.

The second time down - JAWS - full, in your face, gaping mouth, big teeth, dead eyes.

I remained cool and calm. Kind of James Bond like.

Actually I screamed like a little girl.

We had about a dozen encounters in the cage. The above video is what happened after I got out. In 3 hours we saw at least 7 different sharks. They estimated the largest at 4 meters - about 2 1/2 tons.

Labels: Hermanus, Shark, South Africa

This entry was posted by Mike Nolan, on Monday, March 31, 2008. You can leave your response.