Air Jaws by Carmen

Air Jaws

The best place in the world to witness the spectacular Great White Shark breaching is 30km south of Cape Town at Seal Island in False Bay. Scientists have acknowledged that the breaching behaviour of the Great White Shark occurs there more frequently than anywhere along the South African coastline.

It’s difficult to imagine a 1 tonne animal, launching itself out of the waters that surround Seal Island while hunting, however the Great White Shark does just this. This spectacular behaviour is called breaching as Great White sharks use this strategy to catch fast moving prey, such as seals.

The Great White Shark begins its hunting at dawn. They will swim near the bottom of the murky waters and the clearer the water, the deeper they will swim. Once they spot its prey, it is  a full out vertical rush to the surface, the Great White often is able to reach twenty miles per hour, and break through the water grabbing its prey. This act is a ‘shoot first ask questions later’ performance and is often targeted to attack a seal, however sometimes long chases of up to 3-4 minutes can occur due to the seal noticing the shark and maneuvering away or by chance the shark simply misses. . During these long chases the Great White Shark will often jump out head over tail with great agility for its size.

Great White Sharks breach most commonly in the habitat of Seal Island. The island is a small land mass located 5.7 kms off the northern beaches of False Bay, near Cape Town, in South Africa. Seal Island is so named, because of the great number of Cape Fur Seals which  occupy it. It is 5 acres in area and home to at least 64,000 cape fur seals. It is also home to seabirds and is likely that non-marine species, fly there to breed as well. The dense population of the seals at certain times of the year, attract the seal’s main predator, the Great White Sharks. A ‘Ring Of Death’ surrounds the island as this is where attacks on seals most often occur, however the seals have adapted a smarter way to cross through the steep dropoff. As the seals return they take one breath then plunge the murky 15c degree water and swim swiftly towards the island and only breathe again once safely on the island.

To conclude, 30km south of Cape Town at Seal Island in False Bay, is the greatest place to witness the spectacular hunting ability of the Great White Shark as they continue to adapt to their habitat. It is known as breaching. The phenomenon of a 1 tonne animal swimming at the murky bottom depths then rushing to the surface in a full out vertical rush to the surface, catching its prey as it leaps from the water.