or some reason, the classic R & B tune “Return of the Mac” always starts playing in Trident’s head when re-reading this headline. Pretty sure you’re doing it yourself right now. You’re welcome. Or not, if you find it annoying.
We also think of the 3rd original Star Wars film, Return of the Jedi. That’s an aside.
No Baby Shark vibes.
So ja. Sharks. If there was one word clinically designed to strike terror into surfers’ hearts, that word would be shark. More specifically, Great White Shark. Even more scary than onshore, crowds, boss, dings, flat, locals and Teahupoo. Also, the spelling of Teahupoo is pretty scary.
We digress.
So, the whole point of today’s Surf Science article is to disseminate Great White sharks returning to the Cape provinces, after an absence of several years. Indeed, the last memory of any encounter in South Africa we actually have was during the WSL J Bay event in 2015. Mick Fanning was attacked by a shark during a live broadcast, and fought it off and was thankfully unscathed. Chuck Norris? Never heard of her. Since then though, sharks have been pretty much unseen.
However, sharks have apparently started to return. *Return of the Mac. The consensus was courtesy of two Killer Whales, nicknamed Port and Starboard, the presence of Great Whites was notable deterred. Although Trident is certain the Orca’s did make the big sharks nervous, as would anything wanting to Hannibal Lecter your liver, there were probably other factors too. Indeed, if your preferred food, is say – cheeseburgers – and said preferred food suddenly became rabid – you’d also have some doubts about it.
Frothing, barking mad seals? No thanks. We Great Whites will order out somewhere else thank you. And still, other factors must have abounded. Nonetheless… False Bay, the Atlantic seaboard – the Garden Route into the Eastern Cape, Great Whites were MIA.
We’re talking big, bad Great White Sharks.
Sure, other potentially dangerous species were still around. Bull or Zambezi sharks, Bronze Whalers and even the timid Ragged Tooth Sharks (who’ll only bite you if provoked – such as if trying hug the poor fish) weren’t being intimidated into leaving our shores.
Indeed. Trident saw a video clip claiming a near death experience with a shark, but the small brown blob in said clip did not look like a Great White. In other words folks, the hard science of Great Whites back in SA waters in numbers is slightly anecdotal right now.
They’ve never really left though, as we’ve see a few with our own peepers. Just be cautious though. We don’t have Austalia’s surfer numbers, and we certainly don’t want potential bloodbaths in the water. We circled around the Ozzie shark facts here (mentioning it’s generally safer in the water than on land); and harped on about our smaller surf population here.
The usual tactics. Never surf alone in far flung spots, be ready to use a leash as a tourniquet, never panic, and never take a boerie roll or a ham sandwich into the water for you. Or else your lunch may just cause you to be something bigger and nastier than you’s lunch.
