The lion is the undisputed King of the Jungle. The shark rules the Seas. Both have toothsome reputations and, as it happens, identical preying patterns. The lion, however, has a better press.
Kim, the shark lady, from Gansbaai, is doing for sharks what Disney
did for lions.
While sharks are not easily rendered endearingly anthropomorphic, they are,
nevertheless, one of evolution's most successful experiments. One of the oldest
living species on Earth, sharks have remained unchanged since the dawn of their
creation. Probably because they have no enemies... other than Man. And his
movies.
With mass hysteria, trophy hunters and shark nets taking their toll on this apex
predator of the ocean's ecosystem, South Africa was the first country to legislate
protection in 1991. Today, it is the premier destination for close-up encounters with
the Great White Shark.
Contrary to their man eating image, the Great White is a shy ,cautious and timid
killing machine, Kim maintains, and incorrigibly inquisitive. "Its hands are its
teeth." Hence, I suppose the misunderstanding.
Kim, with her background in marine research, sought to bring the myth to the surface
and in so doing pioneered another, characteristically South African, extreme
sport.
Hermanus hugs one side of Walker Bay, Gansbaai the other. The sleepy shores and
somnolent mountains of this old fishing village give little away about the nature of
its real attraction - the heart-attack inducing pleasures of diving with the Great
White Shark.
Dyer Island lies five nautical miles off the coast. Named, somewhat intriguingly,
for an American guano collector named Samson Dyer, this spattered lump of rock is
separated from its smaller twin by Shark Alley.
36 000 seals cluster on Geyser Island and in the winter months of June, July and
August when the fish have fled for warmer seas, the sharks come in search of seal
meat. And the intrepid come in search of adrenaline.
The channel between the two islands is relatively shallow offering close-up viewing
from the 30 foot catamaran but for those with Open Water 1 and death defying
compulsions, there is... The Cage. A ringside seat at shark level.