BIG ANIMAL DIVER
19 divErto stop, we decided to crawl back onto
the RIB. When I handed my camera
and weight-belt up and pulled myself
from the water, I realised how
exhausted I was.
However, I also felt very fortunate to
have witnessed perhaps the greatest
show Nature has to offer.
Many of us have seen it on TV, on
those fantastic BBC series in which
sharks, dolphins and birds hunt and eat
huge schools of sardines off the south-
east coast of South Africa. The Sardine
Run lasts only for about six weeks,
typically starting in mid-June.
Millions of sardines follow cold ☛spotted the shark, I dived with the sun
behind me.
I looked through the viewfinder and
shot away, only this time I also saw the
shark speeding through the baitball in
the opposite direction relative to the
dolphins. In other words, it was
heading directly towards me.
I had been lucky enough to swim
and dive with sharks several times
before, so I kept calm and held my
breath as the shark came very close to
me. The dolphins also came close many
times, but they easily manoeuvred
around me. I will admit that at times
it felt a little chilling to be in the middle
of this feeding frenzy, surrounded by
predators.
When the baitball had shrunk to
almost nothing and the attacks seemed