Day 29, October 8th, 2018. My journey to Gansbaai and Marine Dynamics started a long time ago. For over 20 years, I have watched Shark Week on the Discovery channel. Some of my earliest memories are watching VHS tapes of it with my brother. Last summer, while watching the African Shark Safari special, I recognized the Lawzi Research boat. I googled “Lwazi Research” and found the boat belonged to Marine Dynamics, a company which has appeared in several Shark Week specials. Most notably, when Dickie Chivell rode a great white shark decoy through shark-infested waters (link). In short, researching the Lwazi would lead me to the Marine Dynamics volunteer program.
Fast forward one year and you have day 29 – deploying bait cameras on the Lwazi. A calm ocean made the trip possible. The Lwazi is a relatively small boat and can only go out when conditions are right. The odds worked in my favor as this was my final day of volunteering. We spent four hours prepping, deploying, and retrieving five bait cameras. As we waited for the cameras to record, each camera recorded for one hour, we drove to Geyser Rock and spent time with the cape fur seal colony. All of the cameras were deployed and retrieved successfully.
My time in Gansbaai was filled with early mornings, sunsets, and epic adventures. Most importantly, it was filled with incredible people. I knew seeing my first white shark would be amazing, but I was not prepared for the relationships I would build and the friendships I would forge. Breaching whales are always captivating, but there is nothing like running around a boat in four meters of swell with your best friends. Between the animals and the people, I am the luckiest man in the world.
Phone Keys Snorkel 