A normal week here, aka without 24-hr tracking shifts, includes daily "chum trips" to seal island. Seal island is located close to Diaz beach in Mossel Bay, about a 15 min boat trip from the harbor, and the square footage per seal ratio is through the roof which is exactly why white sharks are attracted to this area year-round. Once next to the island, we throw sardine fish oils/parts and large fish heads into the water to attract a shark visit. The larger fish heads are attached to a rope that is ideally always located directly in front of the shark's mouth without actually allowing the shark to eat the bait (we do not want to feed the sharks directly and teach them to associate boats with food).
When sharks show up around the boat and bait, we photograph their bodies and dorsal fins while also taking notice of any scars or distinguishing features. This helps us identify individual sharks (most of them have great nicknames like "teacup" and "squiggles mcgee") to see when sharks are migrating through the area, how much they're grown through the years, if they're feeding, in the area to breed, etc and etc. You can actually identify each shark by their dorsal fin markings, which is the point behind the photographs. These photos were taken throughout this week during the chum trips........ENJOY!!!!!
