S. Africa Cage Dive Trip

So the first day I got to meet Chris Fallows, my favorite shark photographer - and my inspiration for working on my own photography (esp water and nature) - I literally squealed like a girl at a boy band concert (it's how I image my friend Peeper when she sees NKTOB). He came over an gave me hug and as amazing as that was then we went out on the boat for our first dive Chris and his wife went with us. His wife, Monique, is even sweeter and such a caring person and was very compassionate in helping me deal with the embarrassment of throwing up due to seasickness. It made me feel so much better when she said she suffered seasickness for about two years when she started being out on the boat.  They did not go out with our second dive but we they did tell use they would try to see us when we went to Mossel Bay.             Once we were in Mossel Bay we learned that Chris and Monique would be there for a week and we were given a chance to go ...

South African Pictures Part 1- South African Pictures Part 2 These pictures are a variety of pictures from my trip including my flight, hotels, lots of waves/ocean, animals. small video clips. Will be hopefully adding some from my GoPro - the best videos that I got I have uploaded already to the blog. Here is my YouTube video playlist from my GoPro that I have uploaded....

This was seen on a morning when we got to go out on the boat in Mossel Bay with Chris and Monique Fallows. It was our 2nd day in Mossel Bay with them for a morning predation trip so they could get some pictures. 1st day we didnt get lucky BUT 2 day was amazing with a full breach and a partial breach.

So today we did our 7th cage dive and it was probably one of the best out of all of them. We had a total of 15-18 different sharks around the cage at various times and they all  have their own unique personalities. Some came in just for a look and didn't really go after the tuna head but there were a couple that were very interested and wanted the tuna head desperately. They came up to the cage and even tried to taste the cage in front of a couple of friends. It was amazing to see even from where I was in thr cage BUT my favorite was one when another shark actually swiped it's pectoral fin and tail against the cage in front of me. I really was tempted to touch it and DIDN'T because my love and respect from these animals has grown even more. Not only that but then the shark that bit the cage before we got out swam directly in front of my and we made eye contact. Her swimming was so delibrate,  slow, and stunning beyond words. I wasn't able to get that on my go-pro becau...

We had a couple of Sub-Antartic Skuas flying next ro our boat this morning.  They are so powerful and beautiful. These guys were checking us out and hoping for fish handouts. They got a couple but had to work for it. One thing I learned is that these birds have pouches on the inside of their neck where they store food instead of eating it all at once. The pouches turn the food into a puree that they eat later on. They do this because these birds spend long hours and days over the ocean.

This morning (Aug 22) our Great White Expedition group met up with Chris amd Monique Fallows - the leaders of Apex Predators and favorite shark photographer (well Chris is), in Mossel Bay, to leatn about some predatation and breaching. We were able to watch the use of seal decoys after some time around Mossel Bays Seal Island. It was awesome to watch them work together and how much patience is needed to get a photograph you are proud of or sometimes even just one.

Video Update  (click to see video)

Video Update during boat ride back to shore  (click to see video)