Last week Tuesday, 11 interns from the volunteer Adventure Corporation (VACorps) went out to False Bay to join Steve Benjamin, and Animal Ocean. The weather turned out to be absolutely perfect, for a day on the water. After launching the boat from Miller’s Point, we set off towards Seal Island to check out the seals. About 15 minutes into our trip, we spotted diving Gannets in the distance and decided to check it out. What we found however was a 1000 strong, pod of common dolphin! The water was white with moving dolphin, and the sound of 1000 dolphins echoed all around us. What and incredible experience! It didn’t stop there though however, after a stop at the biggest Cape Fur seal colony in the area, we then made our way over to Pyramid Rock for a dive with the Cow Sharks. The water was top to bottom visibility, pancake flat, and we were surrounded most of the dive by at least 15 Cow sharks, ranging from 1m to 2.5m. These impressive creatures let us swim amongst them for a good 40 minutes. What a day to remember! (Text from VACorps newsletter)

Volunteer Adventure Corps

On February 5th, after another dive with the seven gill sharks (or cowsharks, as they’re called here) off of Miller’s Point, Steve Benjamin (Animal Ocean) took me up to Cape Point at the Cape of Good Hope, the most south-western point of Africa.  Although it’s not the tip of Africa, it’s definitely the photogenic tip of Africa, and Steve and I had a good time taking pictures and hiking up to the new lighthouse.  We saw ostriches and baboons as well!

Myfanwy Rowlands at Cape Point

In the afternoon, we toured the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, which are absolutely stunning.  So much botanical knowledge in one place, it was mind-boggling and academically very inspiring — but to those friends who are all-too-familiar with my vocational ADD,  I’m happy to report that despite the amazing visit I’m still planning on studying marine biology & conservation, not botany.  Although I do have my sights set on marine plants.

For the past three days (Feb. 6-9), I’ve had the privilege of accompanying Thomas Peschak, Chief Photographer for the Save Our Seas Foundation, on an underwater photo shoot here in Cape Town.  We’ve been out every day on Steve Benjamin’s Animal Oceans boat, and it’s been amazing to watch such a high-calibre photographer at work.

Thomas is also a tremendous advocate for shark conservation and a member of the International League of Conservation Photographers;  I would not have been able to come to South Africa if it weren’t for his help in finding experiences in South Africa for me on my scholarship.

Today the swell was up, so Steve Benjamin (Animal Ocean) and I took a group of professional photographers out chasing the big wave surfers at Sunset Reef, a surf spot here in Cape Town with a reputation almost as deadly as Dungeons.  We were out there for half the day, and I was absolutely blown away what these guys can do on the water.  Below is a picture by Jean Tresfon — the surfer is Sean Holmes, one of South Africa’s finest big-wave surfers.

The waves were unbelievable.  Browse below if will, and try and imagine riding down the face of one of these.  Also out there today were Mike Baleta, Simon Lowe, Dave Smith and Mickey Dufus.

Sean Holmes first wave on the tow at Sunset

Over the falls

Hey guys

Its been awhile since my last blog entry. I find myself this evening with so many experiences I want to share and I dont know where to start. I always find its best to show people what we’ve been doing. So below I have chosen a few images from the last few weeks. The images come from a range a photographers to whom I am grateful.

Chapmans peak panoramic by Goeff Spiby

This image was taken on a photographic trip on the Atlantic seaboard. It really shows the beauty of being under Chapmans peak and the scale of the mountain. The wind was howling with this bay being slightly protected. I had to position myself in the lee of the granite boulders to keep the boat steady.

Bull and dead pup by Geoff Spiby

The seals have been pupping on Duiker Island, not all make it. Here we found a bull seal resting on a small granite boulder lying right next to young seals corpse seemingly oblivious to it. In the water we found many dead pups, most being scavanged apon by giant petrols and seagulls, the strong winds and waves washing possibly washing them off the island.

Steve Benjamin filming for Charles Maxwell at Duiker Island by Jean Tresfon

Trying to capture the seals swimming in thick kelp was tough but once one finds a pattern in the seeming chaos of swirling seals we got the shots.

Swimming seal by Jean Tresfon

Here Jean captured the seal just as it darted “flew” away

Chapmans peak, Geoff Spiby

We were traveling along the base of Chapmans peak, mostly trying to stay out of the howling wind, when we arrived at my faverite crayfishing spot. This turned out to be a well know location to others on the boat. We jumped into the cold but clean water to see what could be captured. These anemonies are covering the granite boulders in the shallows . One can see the mussel zone at the top of the rock.

Chapmans peak ledges Geoff Spiby

This was taken at the same location as the last image but just a bit deeper. You can see the small crayfish that dwell in these crevases. That crack at the top of the image used to hold huge crayfish but not anymore. The photographer in the background is Mark Van Coller.

Dusky Dolphins by Peter Lambert

Dusky dolphin pod by Peter Lambert

On this day we encountered the local pod of Dusky dolphins as they were aggregating. The can be a very inquisitive species of dolphin and came to investigate the divers.

Jellyfish by Jean Tresfon

There have been an abundance of Jellyfish on our coastline latley, which make beautiful subjects. It has also lead to the appearance of many sunfish.

Jean Tresfon Sunfish

Sunfish by Jean Tresfon

It took me awhile to figure out how to get photographers close to these small sunfish, they just kept swimming away. The larger individuals seem to be less skittish and easier to work with, but also less common. We encountered up to 5 small individuals at a time and got extremely close in often dirty water.  Here Jean Tresfon captures the beauty of a sunfish in Table Bay.

Jean Tresfon and Sunfish by Geoff Spiby

Here one can see that these are small individuals and Jean tries to get a close up with his wide angle lens

Sevengill Cowshark by Steve Benjamin

Although not a pro image I wanted to mention the Sevengill sharks. They have returned in full force.  We have done several dives there in the last week and I am always blown away. On one occasion I had 13 in my field of view, from the bottom to about 8m in the water column.On another dive I found seal remains (flipper, fur and intestine), Iether a seal carcas washed in or the Sevengills got hungry.

Well I hope you have gotten an idea of what I have been up to. There are some fun project in the pipline so get in contact to see what is going on and how I can help

Cheers

Steve

We watched this Humpback whale breaching early in the morning in the chilly waters off Dassen Island

I met Morten and Astrid at Knead bakery on Muizenberg beach front. It was raining hard and they were sheltering away eating  muffins. Looked like we all should still be in bed, except that all of us just wanted to get under the water. If one is going to get wet it might as well be in a wetsuit doing it properly.

We headed to Millers Point for a shore dive with the cow sharks. We arrived and despite the big swell hitting the atlantic side it was calm and the sun even popped out every once in a while.

Morten was very concerned about Astrid and wanted the dove to be as easy as possible. We slipped into the kelp forest and headed to the sharks. There was 2m vis in the front but once arriving to where I knew the sharks were we had 7m, just enough.

Morten and I went down and swam straight onto 3 sharks. Astrid soon joined in and found herself above a big shark and feeling comfortable. Every drop we interacted with the sharks until they got uninterested. We changed tactics and lay one the bottom croaking away, as one does for fish, and like clockwork the sharks came in too have a look.

We left the water ecstatic about our experiences with Astrid skipping up to the car, a broad grin on her face.

We then traveled to Cape Point nature reserve. We went to Olifantsbos and watched a troop on baboons feeding. Then we moved to buffels bay as there is often wildlife on the lawn there. We found a family of ostriches feeding. we got very close just by sitting still and waiting. It was strange,but common at Buffels,  to see them so close to the ocean.

After saving a few tortoises we climbed to the Cape Point light house.

It was  a great day on the peninsular despite the rainy start, it all ways is.

Cheers

Steve

We had a great day spent at Dassen Island, 100km north of Cape Town on the west coast and 10km Offshore.

We jumped in with a pod of Dusky dolphins half way to the island. The vis was a shocking 1m but we still had dolphins between our legs. We went greeted with great 12m vis around the island and it didn’t take us long to get in and hunt for a hottentot. We found 4 pyjama sharks in huise baai, but they didn’t stick around. On a SCUBA dive on the south corner of the island Falk and myself watched 3 houndsharks (Mustilis mustilis) interacting. It appeared to be one large female being trailed by 2 small males. Crayfish were in every crevice, I cant wait for the season to open. Later on whilst searching for big hottentot I had a pair of yellowtail swim up to me. One swam away and the other was just eaten for supper.

A great day on the sea.

Read what Morten wrote about the day here

First a short clip of the dusky dolphins we encountered and then a few images from the day……

Morten on the inside edge of Dassen Island

Dassen Island in glassy, flat conditions

Hagfish coming in to eat a pilchard

Pelicans on the Island, watch out penguins and cormerants

Hottentot in kelp forest

The conditions were good for day’s adventure out to Dassen Island.

The Island lies 10km off shore of Ysterfontain on the West Coast. The Island has a lighthouse and a small jetty with a few houses but is mostly home to colonies of penguins, cormorants, and seals. There are a number of shipwrecks strewn across shore line making this a foreboding but exiting place to dive.

The fist creatures we encountered were the tiny and playful Heaviside dolphins as well as hundreds of cormorants all chasing bait fish. We moved behind the island and there we found the yellowtail and snoek, with both Tai and me having hook-ups. I quickly jumped in the water and shot a few yellowtail as tai threw a spinner over my head.

Later I explored the deeper pinnacles looking for big hottentot but really only found playful seal.

Lighthouse, penguins and rock scape of Dassen

It was a great day of fun

The 10th May saw Hanli Prinsloo and the team launching from Millers Point for a day of freediving. The kelp forests of Millers Point were the first stop to get everyone into the water. The vis was great (12m) and we were quickly joined by a group of extremely playful fur seal’s much to the delight of the divers. The rest of the day was spent exploring the wreck of the Clan Stewart and some False Bay’s deeper reefs.
The day was rounded off with great sushi in Simon’s Town………
This is what Hanli had to say….

If you have an insatiable, inexplicable, unstoppable and all-consuming love for the ocean- and you haven’t been to Cape Town, then you’re a liar… or need to travel more.
Coming back to Cape Town has been like seeing a lover after months of absence and years of solitude.

My friend Steve has brought a boat to Cape Town, and Steve, like me, is unashamedly in love with the ocean- although he might express himself more manly… Nevertheless, we understand each other and the sea. Steve and I plan to unlock, explore and savour all the treasures of our beloved Peninsula. Our first trip was legendary.

We launched the boat off Miller’s point, into flat, calm blue water. Looking down into the water I let out a shriek- ‘It’s like Thailand, with Kelp!’ Top to bottom visibility: white sand with tall dark kelp rising up off the bottom, swaying in the current like the spirits of the deep come to play.

I had brought two very green girlfriends along, experienced surfers, truthfully, but freediving? It was more like, ‘um, equalisation?’ so Steve and I decided to ease them into it… ah, a perfect plan made in the most perfect of ways…
First we stopped at a beautiful reef outcrop (reef my side of the world, think dark rocks covered in colourful urchins, kelp forests and sheepish looking shy sharks- no Nemo here…) anyway, the girls got to pull themselves up and down the kelps testing ears and breathhold, both doing exceptionally well.
Next stop, a seal colony. We continued further down the coast, to a stinky rock covered in seals, the most perfect playmates for three ocean loving girls.
So, the most perfect plan was to get dropped just south of the seals, swim with the current and waves to them, play a while, then swim past the rocks to get picked up the other side again by the boat… sounds simple?
Firstly, Steve’s words, said softly so Roxy and Kim couldn’t hear, ‘Han, stay close to the rocks, keep your eyes open, all directions’. Seals, False Bay, deep water= Great Whites. ‘Gulp, sure, no worries Steve- come on girls!’
Eyes peeled, finning hard for the rock, current strong waves bigger than expected, and suddenly we’re off course wih huge swell running over a barely submerged rock and we’re tumbled, white water, lost my snorkel… look over my shoulder for my friends, ‘dear god, let me not kill my friends today’ seeing Kim’s slightly dishevelled but smiling face, ‘easing us in genlty, are you?’ we burst out laughing and call for the boat. This time less plan more precision, drop next to the seals and yes! They flash past us, closer closer closer, their curiosity making them spin around us like bees to pollen. One little seal caught up in the moment took a quick bite at Roxy’s fin before joyfully leaping over Kim’s shoulder and then speeding up to me diving down and between my legs, three girls in the big blue surrounded by ecstatic seal-friends laughing joyfully!

http://www.hanlifreediver.blogspot.com/