White Shark Breaching and Viewing in Cape Town

Great White Shark Breaching – Air Jaws

Witness the unbelievable, a 7,000 lb Great White Shark launching itself out of the water through the air only 20 yards away. This will get your adrenaline pumping if nothing does! There is only one place in the world where you can go on a boat and trawl a try to provoke a Great White Shark to breach out of the water. Just imagine cruising along watching a rubber cutout of a seal bobbing around 20 yards behind the boat and at any time you might witness the apex predator of the oceans burst through the surface into the air.

Both Chris Fallows and Rob Lawrence worked with Discovery Channel to create one of the most famous shark documentaries ever created. This film named ‘Air Jaws’ documented the flying sharks for the first time and showed the world a new wonderful feature of the White Sharks artilerary that was previously unknown to the world. It is amazing to see the sheer power this incredible animal has to accelerate to approximately 40km/h over a 20m depth to protrude the surface and go airborne.

To obtain these images you must be extremely patient and have a lot of concentration on your object, the decoy seal. To wait for a breach may take up to an our or more and the breach lasts for only 2 seconds and then it is all over. A professional photographer went out last June and he was most unfortunate. He focused on the decoy for over an hour and the moment he moved his trigger finger to scratch his nose the shark came out of nowhere and breached the bait. You do not have any indication when a shark will breach and this make it all the more exciting!

Breaching Sharks

Great White Sharks regularly breach by Seal Island in False Bay. There are certain areas around the island where the depth is perfect for a White Shark to launch an ambush on a seal. After viewing how quick and agile the seals are from the boat it sounds logical to say that the Sharks breach the seals to catch them off-guard. The seal is a slippery character and can dance its way out of the jaws of a hungry White Shark. Many have witnessed a White Shark hopelessly trying to catch a lightning fast seal that is constantly changing direction to avoid those jaws. The White Shark is a very intelligent hunter and what appears to happen is the White Shark patrols the depths watching the surface for the silhouette of a seal. Then the Shark accelerates from the bottom to surprise the completely oblivious seal.

In the documentary Air Jaws II many tests were done with a replica seal housing a hidden camera. The camera was constantly focused downwards and it showed the frightening scene of a White Shark speeding from the depths towards the seal before breaching it.

Many times however the shark would veer off with only a few meters to go after perhaps spotting something a bit odd with the decoy. Great White Sharks are very cautious and will only hit a target if it is sure that it is food. But when the White Shark is up for a mouth full then everyone on the boat gets a real treat.

Great White Shark Surface Viewing

Both operators in False Bay concentrate on breaching and surface viewing but Apex Expeditions purely concentrates on this and African Shark Eco Charters runs breaching trips and cage diving if the conditions are suitable. The boat based viewing is exceptional and clients are in for a real treat if the sharks decide to perform on the day. There is also an excellent chance of witnessing a seal kill.

Shark Diving Central Bookings

There are currently 2 white shark operators in False Bay and both operate around Seal Island in Cape Town. We have developed a relationship with these operators are able to bring you an unrivalled and fair choice when deciding on a tour with 0% commission added to the price. To find out more about what each operator has to offer please see the following summaries of the operators.

White Sharks: June – September R1500 - Max 6 on boat – No Cage Diving

Apex Expeditions

The trip is purely boat based and consists of trying to provoke the white sharks to breach out of the water to catch their prey. To do this they tow a fake seal (decoy) approximately 20 yards behind the boat and cruise around Seal Island waiting for the ambush. This provides clients with excellent opportunities for airborne pictures of the sharks which is what is featured in the famed documentaries ‘Air Jaws’ and ‘Air Jaws 2’. The trip also consists of viewing the sharks around Seal Island from the boat and hopefully witnessing a natural kill on a seal.