Growing Family

Yesterday was a very exciting day for us here at SASC! When we first arrived at the office, Tamzyn noticed that one of the sharks had come out of his egg casing - we have a handsome baby boy Pajama Shark! Throughout the rest of the day, the surprises continued as we saw another cute boy arrive (a Puffadder Shyshark) and then a beautiful little girl (another Puffadder)! All these new members of the SASC family may eat us out of house and home! haha
These little kids are adorable:

Big boy Pajama Shark

Girl Puffadder Shyshark

Little sis and big brother

Boy Puffadder Shyshark

Fun in the Sun

By the end of yesterday, I had a permanent smile on my face! After lunch, the weather was beautiful and the sea calm so I headed down to the waters edge to see if I could catch some sharks. My very advanced and highly technical equipment consisted of one mesh bag (similar to what you would buy oranges in), one rock (to weigh the bag down), a handful of self-sacrificing squid, and one large bin for transport. Once the bait was in the water it was only a few minutes before I was attracting marine life. The first to show up was a Hag Fish, followed by a variety of small fish.
Fifteen minutes go past and all of a sudden I'm staring down at a lovely Shyshark! I was so excited I almost fell in head first!  Within the next two hours I caught - by hand - five new sharks for our tanks. It was extremely fun, laying on my stomach on the rocks, face inches from the beautiful blue-green water, arm wet to the shoulder trying to grab at a stubborn little shyshark who wasn't listening to my gentle coaxing of: "There's a nice warm tank for you. We'll give you free squid. ... GET OVER HERE SO I CAN GRAB YOU!!!"
After I caught the stubborn little guy (he couldn't resist my charm), I was determined to catch one more shark so we would have five animals total. The only issue is that the tide was changing and the water level was slowly starting to rise, threatening my semi-dry perch on the rocks. But I held out until I saw the largest shark thus far! I could tell he was a different species right away because of the way his snout formed more of a point than the Shysharks I had previously caught. I immediately gave myself a pep talk that went something like: "He's really not THAT big! And besides, if he does pull you into the water - he wont eat you... Hopefully."
As soon as I had a grasp on his back he started to fight and I had to rush to get him into the bin before I lost my grip. The nice thing about sharks is they have denticles instead of scales, making their skin feel like sandpaper, so its not difficult to hold on to them. But Leopard sharks don't take kindly to being rudely forced from their beautiful home in the ocean and he fought to make sure I understood his displeasure. Never the less, he was soon swimming with friends and being fed lots of tasty squid.
I also spied my first glimpse of a whale AND saw a large pod of dolphins swimming past the harbour! Did I mention this is the coolest summer ever?

Love at first sight - shark #1!!!

It just so happened that I am wearing my super awesome SASC shirt!!

The large shark here is a Leopard, the little guy is a Puffadder Shyshark

More Puffadder Shysharks

Father's Day

            Fortunately we live in an age with the technology to communicate across oceans and as a result I was able to wish my dad an early Father’s Day via video chat on Friday. But yesterday, as I sat on the beach watching the beautiful, green, rolling waves of Walker Bay in the fading sun light – I remembered that my dad is the one who first encouraged me to look into becoming a marine biologist. Some of my favorite summer memories are the ones of going down to the Gulf of Mexico with my family. I remember waking up early, packing all the fishing gear into the pickup, mom fixing a basket full of sandwiches and chips, and trying to find a bottle of sun block that wasn’t passed the expiration date. Not only did we skillfully avoid having any smelly fish to clean when we came home but, more importantly, we always learned something new about the coastal area and gained a new appreciation of the importance of the ecosystem found there. All thanks to my dad's love and knowledge of the natural landscape.

I’ve been to the coast of Oregon, North Carolina, and now South Africa. But as spectacular as these beaches are, each in their own beautiful way, I will always love the sand of Crystal Beach. It was a special moment to me, sitting on the beach with my dad, looking out at the water, and recognizing the passion that would propel my career.

The color of the water, the type of shells, and the way the waves roll all change, but the energy of the ocean stays the same. Just as the miles may be great, the time may be in different zones, but the love between a father and daughter will never fade!

Hard at work in the salty air

On Friday we shut down our input water pump so we could clean out the filter and when we tried to prime the pipe and start the pump again - it wouldn't start. Disaster.
We spent several hours working on the problem Friday (and hauled about 30 5 gallon buckets full of seawater) until we ran out of time and had to go to another World Oceans Day event. We returned on Saturday morning with reinforcements and tried again. The guys braved the cold water to fix the no-return valve at the intake end of the pipe, working for several hours before being able to clear it of debris and reattaching all the pieces.
We returned this am and tried to prime again - to no avail. We have spend most of the day working on it again and are still not able to maintain enough water in the pipe to allow the pump to activate. Ever optimistic, we continue to try new ideas and will prevail! :D (hopefully!)

This is a panoramic view of the Old Harbor. The building in the left of the photo is the SASC office! ;)

World Oceans Day

Results from my daily walk on the beach:

World Oceans Day - June 8th

This Wednesday, June 8th, the South African Shark Conservancy will be participating in an international celebration of our planets greatest resource: the Ocean. 

We are inviting local schools and kids of all ages to join us in the second annual World Oceans Day Parade which will start at Swallow Park, go up Marine Drive, and end at the Old Harbour Museum. At the museum, the group will be addressed by the major of Hermanus! 

So, Wear Blue- Tell Two and come join us for a day of fun celebrating our passion for our ocean!



The SASC not only participates in the organizing of community events such as the one I describe above, but we also provide tours to those interested in learning more about sharks, the marine environment, and conservancy in general. This morning we hosted a lovely group of school children and here are some of the photos:

Activities to inspire thought.

 

Busy at work on posters with interesting "ocean facts"

The kids got a chance to touch our friendly Puffadder Shyshark, a species endemic to South Africa.

Tamzyn showing the kids our touch tank - She's holding shark egg casings!

Fascination continued at the touch tank with learning about our sea urchin.