Miscellaneous Stuff from White Shark Projects

SASC - South African Shark Conservancy

Every Monday afternoon after we have returned form sea, all the volunteers from WSP are driven into Hermanus (about 60 minutes drive) to go to SASC.  SASC is the South African Shark Conservancy.  SASC is a non-profit company founded in 2007. They are dedicated to promoting the conservation & sustainable use of marine resources through research, education & awareness.  Their research projects focus not only on elasmobranchs (sharks, skates, rays), but also on marine ecology & the socio-economics of fisheries.  SASC is based in Hermanus on the shores of Walker Bay. Walker Bay lies virtually at the confluence of two great oceans - the Atlantic & Indian Oceans - and is characterized by temperate marine life, rocky cliffs, sandy beaches & cool year-round water temperatures ranging between 11-20C.  The facility is situated just a few yards from the sea in the cliffside.  It is amazing!

Walker Bay where we went snorkeling

SASC building it is actually in the cliffside above Walker Bay

Another view of SASC

My first Monday in attendance, Dave, a PhD student, gave us a lecture on Great White behavior and the different types of research currently being done.   The behavior section was pretty much a repeat of things I already knew since I’m kind of a shark nerd anyway :)   As for the research, we discussed the different types of tagging systems they use on the Great Whites, how they differ and why you want to use one versus the other.  It was quite interesting.  Each had it’s pros and cons as you can imagine.  There is one type of tag that needs to be secured to the dorsal fin with four large screws.  This requires the shark to be taken onto the boat on a platform and the tag basically drilled onto the dorsal fin.  A large hose that circulates sea water into the mouth/gills has to be done to keep the shark alive. They try to perform the procedure as quickly as possible (almost like changing the tires in a NASCAR race) but unfortunately a few sharks have expired this way which has caused a lot of ire in the shark community.  Also, it has been known to damage the fin.  The reason these tags are “better” than the rest is that they are supposed to transmit a signal for up to 5 years which would be amazing data collection as to the shark’s location, water depth, etc.  What they have found though is that these tags are collecting a lot of algae and seaweed which blocks the signal many of times. 

SPOT tag on Great White Shark

Next, Dave showed us a documentary on a necropsy (autopsy) that was performed on a huge female Great White Shark that had been found deceased in a fishing net.  They never say the length of this shark but it looked to be a good 15 feet long.  They called in specialists from throughout the world to help with the necropsy.  Interesting fact, Great Whites can completely evert their stomach into their mouth.  They do this to get rid of anything they have swallowed that they don’t want to digest.  They are actually quite picky.  They don’t want to waste their energy digesting something that isn’t “worth it”. Pretty much anything that isn’t their normal staple will be evacuated.  They apparently also do this when they are stressed as they found this shark with her stomach everted :(   I’m guessing there are no sphincters in the esophagus or stomach to allow this to happen but they didn’t address that point.  The liver is HUGEMONGOUS in these animals.  It takes up about 80% of the abdominal cavity.  There was a scientist there about my height I’m guessing and they had her lay down next to the liver for comparisons sake and it was longer than she was (about 5 feet long).  Crazy!  I was disappointed as they didn’t say anything about the reproductive system and that was what I was most interested in. 

http://danmarkjakkerkk.com/great-white-shark-necropsy/

After the lectures we went to a restaurant called Tapas in Hermanus.  Really yummy!  Then we went shopping around town and then to a bar in the cliffside for some drinks.  A really great day!

My next time at SASC, Dave showed us some videos on shark conservation efforts. Basically about shark finning and shark culling.  I won’t bore you all with the details but if you want to know about it just go to YouTube and search shark finning and Australia Shark Culling and you’ll see it. Disgusting practices…..  Then we went down into their lagoon area and went snorkeling to look for sharks for SASC to collect for their research.  Mostly shy sharks and pajama sharks.  We didn’t find any that day but we did see a starfish, some jelly fish, and a crayfish/lobster-type creature.  It was a fun day!

Again, we went to Tapas to eat and then went back to WSP in Kleinbaai.  I enjoyed SASC very much! 

CAPE AGULHAS

We took a "no sea" day to go to Cape Agulhas.  Cape Agulhas is a rocky headland in the Western Cape, South Africa. It is the geographic southern tip of Africa and the official dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.  We had a really fun time taking photos there!  Then we went to the Cape Agulhas Lighthouse. It was the third lighthouse to be built in South Africa, and the second-oldest still operating.  After the lighthouse we went to visit an old shipwreck near the shore.  No one knew the story behind it though.

Me at the southernmost tip of Africa

Cape Agulhas Lighthouse

The shipwreck

Finally we went to have lunch at Pelican's Harbour Cafe in Strusbaai just a few miles from the Cape.  Before we ate we bought bait at the tackle shop next door.  We strung the bait from the pier to attract stingrays to that area.  After lunch, which was really good, we bought frozen sardines to feed the stingrays.  Luckily they came while we were at lunch.  Two huge ones!!  They swim up to you and you put the sardine under the water and they take it from you.  They let you pet them and then they swim off and then come back when they feel like it :)  I had my GoPro under the water filming them and after all the footage I took I realized the camera wasn't on.....GIANT FAIL!! 

The pier and the stingrays

SWOP SHOP

Every Tuesday afternoon we go to Swop Shop when we return from sea.  I already wrote a previous blog on Swop Shop so I won’t repeat myself other than to say how much I enjoyed it and it really touched me.  I saw many of the same kids from the previous week and they recognized me and smiled.  I was the “soup lady” this time so I got to hand the kids their cup of soup after they went “shopping”.  I saw one little girl, maybe 6 years old, all she purchased with her points was toilet paper.  They weren’t even full rolls.  It broke my heart. The one girl that buys only clothes with her points was there again.  She had one of her little sisters with her this time - ADORABLE! Come to find out the family has 10 kids!!  No wonder she is always shopping for clothes!  There was also one little boy there that was not there last time.  He purchased a pad of paper and a pen.  He went outside and started drawing pictures. His English is quite good.  He could speak it and write it.  I was impressed!  He likes football (soccer) and loves to draw pictures. Once again the kids loved my camera.  We took pictures with them.  They took pictures of us.  They took pictures of each other.  I also let them watch some videos that I took of the sharks that were saved on my camera. They loved that!  It was an amazing experience again and I wish I could go every week.

Boys being boys

Me and one of the girls

Me and an adorable little boy :)

Quite the artist :)

CONSERVATION LECTURE

One evening we went to Hermanus to attend a lecture on conservation given by world renown shark conservationist, Richard Pierce. Recently there has been much publicity in the media about research which shows that we have lost half of the world's wildlife in the last 40 years.  It is clear that conservation efforts in their current form are not effective enough.  Richard argued that the enormous number of wildlife conservation NGOs (non-governmental organizations) working all over the world are in some ways presenting the 'dangerous illusion' that satisfactory action is being taken, whereas in fact we are losing the war on a global level.  We need to re-think how we do things.  Using examples of rhinos and sharks in his talk he suggested more effective ways of monitoring conservation groups to make them more effective.  It was really an eye-opening discussion.  So glad I got to attend.

Sad state of affairs

FUN LANGUAGE 

I had people volunteering with me from Denmark, Switzerland, the UK, South Africa, Canada and the US.  We found that we have different meanings for some of the same words and strange sayings that no one else has heard of.  It was quite entertaining!

In the UK, your “fanny” is your vajayjay where in the US ,it is your butt.  French toast is “eggy bread”; a “rubber” is an eraser and you use it to “rub one out”; your “pants “are your underwear and “trousers” are pants.  Are you confused yet??  It was really funny :)  I told the one bloke, Gary, not to ever come to the US asking people (especially children) if they want a rubber so they can “rub one out”.  Hilarious!  We were out to eat one night and one of the girls ordered a lemonade and vodka.  I thought that sounded good so I got one too.  Apparently lemonade is Sprite and not lemonade.  It was not what I had in mind to put it nicely.

In South Africa the “buckie” is a little truck but a big truck is not a “buck”, it’s a truck?  The word “no” in Danish (“ney”) apparently means you want to have sex with someone in Afrikaans.  That was out of control funny!  

Bacon is not bacon in South Africa (or apparently in the UK).  I kept ordering things with bacon and I was getting something that looked like ham or Canadian bacon.  If you want American bacon it is called “streaky bacon”.  Sounds disgusting.  You can’t really get it in restaurants from what I can tell but you can buy it in the grocery store and tastes quite nice :)

When I first got there everyone was talking about going to the “Spa” - or so I thought.  I was all excited only to find out we were going to “Spar” which is a gas station/grocery store place.  With their accent (both UK and SA) they drop the “r”.  Huge disappointment……

In Switzerland if you live under a rock, you actually live “behind the moon”.  Funny.  This came up because Dominick (from Switzerland) has never seen or even heard of the movie Jaws.  Seriously???  I didn’t that was possible to not have even heard of Jaws!  Dominick’s English was actually quite good but he couldn’t always get the words out so it was like playing a constant game of charades!  Entertainment at it’s finest!

I met some really wonderful people at WSP and I had such a great time!  I did see a 4 meter (almost 14 feet long) Great White Shark on my last day.  That was real treat!  She was beautiful!  What a majestic animal and I got to see her with my own two eyes :)  Loved every minute on the boat even if I wasn’t feeling the greatest on some days.  We didn’t go one day without seeing sharks.  Any day where you see a shark is a good day.  

The towns of  Gansbaai and Kleinbaai are based on shark tourism.  Everything in these towns is sharks.  In Kleinbaai, where we were staying, is where the boat harbor is located that takes all the clients out to see the sharks.  There are three stores all with shark names and they sell shark stuff and one restaurant called the Great White House.  In Gansbaai our larger sister city about 10 minutes drive away has a shopping complex called the Great White.  There are posters of sharks all over town.  They were putting up their Christmas decorations as I was leaving…..you guessed it, sharks.  It was awesome!  Those are my kind of towns!

Me and Gary (from the UK) on our last day at sea

I am sad to leave the sharks but looking forward to my next adventure……Botswana.