African Shark Eco Charters

On their first visit to Seal Island, while they were scanning the seals for fresh predations, a seal was attacked less that 10 meters from the boat. Subsequent research and shark viewing trips to the area have proven highly successful and over the last 4 years, they have accumulated an intimate knowledge of the cycle of the ecosystem in False Bay and its key player the great white shark.

All of their trips run in Winter and Summer. The weather in Winter is more likely to be suitable for shark watching. This is due to the shelter that the bay provides and the fact that colder water temperatures keep the sharks concentrated around the food sources at Seal Island. This translates to a significantly better chance of finding large numbers of sharks in one spot.

We will collect you from your residence early and transport you to Simons Town, where you are briefed before going to sea. We set a minimum party size of four people, but may be able to accommodate individuals as part of another party if given notice well in advance. Our one day shark trips are generally arranged fairly informally and we do trips on most clear days throughout the year.

For anyone with a deep interest in sharks (we do also allow shark junkies) they offer 10 day great white shark trips (March – October). On these they can provide accommodation and food and can take in up to 8 people per expedition. Expeditions start on the first day of every Month and run the whole year round. On expeditions their main aim is to tag selected sharks and collect environmental and behavioural data on the sharks, seals and birds and the interactions between them. They encourage all expedition members to help with the data collection, entering and preliminary analysis. Specific data is also collected for each shark, such as length, characteristic features (fin or tail shape) and behaviour.

Their Great White Shark expeditions at sea start at dawn and we reach the island just as the sun is rising, which is the best time to observe predator / prey interactions. Once an appropriate anchoring spot is secured they begin to collect environmental and hopefully shark data. Lunch is available at around 12h00. They may stay till dusk depending on the weather and shark activity. Normally they are back off the water by 14h00. They also attempt to collect above and below water pictures to continue our database of known animals. Slides and talks shows will be given on some nights.

Weather statistics predict that on average 7 out of 10 days meet the minimum conditions for going to sea. However, it is at the discretion on the skipper of the boat to decide if conditions are unsuitable for sea work. As an alternative, time will be spent exploring Cape Town’s many world famous landmarks and the well known Cape wine lands.