South Africa - ugly Rumors!

No this is NOT from SA and thus NOT evidence - it's just a grisly picture illustrating the topic of this post.

So far, this is largely unsubstantiated.
Apparently, so the story goes, large protected Tigers and Great Whites are being poached in order to sell the jaws to US trophy hunters. If so, it would be a terrible tragedy for the marine ecosystem and also for South Africa's Shark viewing operators that contribute millions to the country's tourism industry.

Good people are looking into it and my fervent hope is that this will turn out to be nothing more than yet another myth, like the recent unnecessary controversy about the Shark bait.
Fingers crossed and we'll keep you posted as events unfold.

PS more details by DaWolf here.

Aliwal Shoal - What has happened to the Tigers?

Aliwal Shoal Tiger and diver, by DaWolf - a thing of the past? Notice the Blacktips in the background.

I must say, when it comes to SA, I remain of two minds.
Having been a staunch anti-apartheid advocate, I was overjoyed when the despicable regime finally disappeared. Mandela transcends positive attributes but then came the pathetic Mbeki - and Zuma, let alone Malema are frankly a disgrace and cause for grave concern.
When it comes to conservation, there is of course the brilliant terrestrial track record that on top of preserving vital unique habitat is contributing millions in tourism income. On the marine and especially, sharky side of things, not really impressed. There's certainly a lot of research, some of which is rather impressive; but when it comes to getting those Sharks protected, I see ALOT of self congratulatory media by the various bikini models, artists, sharktivists and whatnot - but in terms of having achieved tangible results?

The Shark diving Industry?
SA's Shark diving has been developed and very much put on the map by visionary, and probably equally crazy icons like Andre Hartman, and the legacy is being continued by excellent people like Mike Rutzen or Chris Fallows for whom I have nothing but the greatest respect. Other people, not so much - but such is the Industry everywhere, tribal and petty! Plus, news like these are of grave concern as such banana republic shenanigans will come at the direct expense of safety and reputation, and I'll leave it at that.

Anyway, I'm digressing as usual.
Why I'm writing this post is that this has piqued my interest.
Apparently, way less Tiger Sharks show up on the Aliwal Shoal dives. Apparently, the reason for this are poaching for trophies - and the highly controversial Shark nets.
This stuff: antiquated, ineffective, unselective, an ecological crime that needs to be stopped.



But is that the most plausible explanation?
Firstly, has anybody checked the data? Has anybody taken the time to go and corroborate those reports by talking to the KZNSB, by looking at fisheries data and by following up on the poaching allegations?

Secondly, Wolfgang reports that
The dive reports I received lately are alarming: Very few tiger sharks sightings, and the tigers don't stay, making one or two brief passes only to leave the scene altogether.

Hmmmmmmmm...
Sharks including Tigers don't like to approach people and that's why the dedicated Shark diving operators attract them with bait. In Aliwal Shoal, this is now thankfully done with ZIBS, a Shark friendly implement that is however not dispensing any food. Thus the Sharks are being teased in and then waste time and energy that could be spent on productive hunting, which is however not the topic here.
The topic is that this could well lead to negative reinforcement whereby individual Sharks wise up to the fact that they're being cheated and learn to avoid that situation.
And then, there are the notorious swarms of Shark hugging bimbettes and intrepid freedivers abusing the Sharks as underwater scooters: do you really believe that those disrespectful stupidities are in any way conducive to those animals ever wanting to come back?

Which brings be straight over to the following.
In my experience, Tigers are rather placid (and incredibly determined!) and just want to do their thing in peace without being harassed.
Juerg has been here for a lightning fast go-see and informs me that his next paper is about to get published. In it, among other topics, he documents how other Shark species have reacted to the stupendous increase in our population of Bull Sharks that has culminated in our sighting of approx 100 individuals this June - and counting, next year there will be more!
I don't want to pre-empt his conclusions but one of the results will be that we're seeing less Tiger Sharks. From my personal observations, this is because they just cannot be bothered to come and join the fray in order to compete with the Bulls - this the more as the Bulls are clearly not intimidated and on the contrary, have even been observed to shoulder away the Tigers when getting to the bait!
Talk about a total lack of respect!

And then,there's the famous Shark Rodeo in Walker's Cay.
As far as I know, only a very few of the famous Bulls bothered to ever turn up at the chumsicle and when they did, they made one or two brief passes only to leave the scene altogether. Tigers, a big fat zero - and this despite being frequently sighted in the vicinity, despite of the yummy fish smell and despite of the massive commotion caused by the Caribbean Reefs and especially, the Blacktips!

Or maybe because of it!
Blacktips are your quintessential asshole Shark: lightening fast, frisky, in-your-face assertive and unpredictable - certainly nobody any self respecting Tiger Shark would ever want to be associated with, especially if they came in packs!

May it be that the exact same is happening in Aliwal Shoal?
May there have been an increase in Blacktips? May there be some correlation between that increase and the decrease in Tiger Shark sightings? May Tiger Shark diving in Aliwal Shoal have become the victim of its own popularity - among humans but above all, among Blacktip Sharks?
Some form of interspecific exclusion, competitive or not?

Yes I'm clearly speculating - but has anybody looked into it?
Thing is, I fully support Wolfgang's cry for better coordination and better Shark protection in SA - tho I fear that achieving any degree of co-ordination, let alone cooperation will be difficult (...) and that in view of the current banana republic shenanigans, few operators will have the guts to speak up against the inept Government policies. But, as always, all should happen based on factual data - and when it comes to those Tiger Sharks, I'm not that sure.
Thoughts?

And since we're at it:
Tiger Beach? Feisty Lemons vs placid Tigers?
Questions questions... :)

DaWolf!

This is about as brilliant as it gets! Pic by Wolfgang Leander (click to enjoy).

We've met - finally!

And no, don't worry, I'm not about to venture writing a laudatio, well deserved as it may be, after just one short lunch.
The more as all you need to do, is to google "Wolfgang Leander" to discover who he is and what he does - along with the biggest endorsement of them all, a dishonorable mention by the anonymous scumbags over at CDNN!

Thing is, we've had our initial run-ins.

But what became immediately apparent was that the man, on top of being a true gentleman, was passionate, highly intelligent and willing to engage in constructive dialogue instead of resorting to the usual petty bickering which is so typical for our sharkophilic circles. Being short tempered and petty myself, I could not but admire and above all, respect his restraint and eventually, his positions - and I have no doubt that this is also the principal reason why he is so universally revered among Shark lovers, to the point where everything he does and says is inevitably being defined as iconic.
Not bad for a self-professed nutter!

For my part, I just sensed that we were kindred spirits and was eagerly awaiting the chance to meet face-to-face in order to die Paar kleineren Missverstaendnisse auszuraeumen, which is German for kiss and make up, or the like.
And I'm happy to report that we have made up and that ever since, we've been kissing like crazy!

But as I said, this is not a laudatio.
This is personal, and all I wanted to say that I'm deeply impressed by the person I'm starting to discover, and that I like him very much. Yes he may indeed be iconic - but above all, to me, he is a true Mensch - culture, passion, quirks and all.

The lone Wolf travels farther, faster.
In diesem Sinne mein Lieber - Machetjut!

Praising Wolfgang

Another one of Wolfgang's fantastic pictures - click to enjoy!

Great to see how much he is being revered!

I'm of course talking about DaWolf.
I'm obviously an avid reader of his iconic Oceanic Dreams and had to smile when he wrote this laudatio of some of the Ocean ladies he met on his recent trip to his beloved Tigers in South Africa.
Very Alter Charmeur - and yet, I know that it came straight from the heart, like everything the man writes.

The ladies have reciprocated.
Underwater Thrills leads me to this post by Lesley Rochat and a bit of navigating reveals yet another brilliant description, this time by fellow free diver and Shark conservationist Hanli Prinsloo. Very poetic and emphatic, as only women can write, they are a testament to Wolfgang's sensitivity and gentle love for his striped ladies.
Please read them and be moved - as I was.

And undoubtedly, so was he - Wolf, you deserve it a thousand times!

More about Scarface!

Well, gee Wolfgang!

Thanks for telling Everybody – with friends like you, one sure doesn’t need enemies! :)

Anyway, yes, I really did nearly soil my pants!
Keep in mind that this was in 2003, meaning way before everybody and his dog would flock to Tiger Beach, plus it was our first ever face-to-face encounter. Previously, I had only encountered one big Tiger who chased my out of the water when I took a bucket of fish down on Osprey Reef in 1977, plus I had experienced a few short flybys that were equally totally unexpected, frightening and ultimately, disappointing.

After the encounter, I ran home and sent this to Ron and Val.

So, the tigers are the good guys, huh ... just push them away you said...

(Ron had just sent me a message stating, remember, Tigers are good guys and if he comes too close simply push him away. Bulls are much more dangerous than Tigers.)

Just came out of the water and here's what's happened: the 4.5m tiger turned up at the hand feed, snatched the bin and took it to 30m. There, she tried to get into it but was too big and got all pissed off as there were scores of bulls trying to steal its fish.
Remembering what you had said, I went down with Manasa and Rusi and was peacefully filming away, as she decided to have a go at us. Manasa had a fish and so did Rusi but when she came for me, all I had was the camcorder. She bit it twice and tried to wrestle it away (camera running), after which she then had a serious go for Manasa who had taken back the bin. She was really going for him and he was zipping around that bin trying not to get caught til she finally gave up.
Got it all on camera as well!

The following day, having somewhat calmed down, I wrote well, for panicking or getting aggressive there just wasn't enough time.. all i was trying is to hang on to my housing which was half-way in, monitor and all, with those teeth much too close to my hand holding the handle - and you know how they are, she would have just gobbled it down. It came out pretty rumpled but thanks to Gates, in perfect working condition (and still running).
Re-looking at the tape, I now think that having gotten the fish from Manasa and Rusi, she was assuming that I wanted to give her something as well.

Yes the camera kept running and you can all watch it right here: Papa's dance around the bin at 0:58 and the bite, at the very end at 6:51!



As to Doug’s picture, it is obviously stellar!
This is the very start of the bite and you can see her pushing on the monitor. Doug had what then was the best digital camera (you can see him at the end of the bin dance sequence), but it was slow to recycle and he missed the bite proper – still, to this day, the pic graces the Gates website and they can boast to build Tiger-proof housings!

In terms of size, I am 2m so she was about 4.5 meters long. And she has continued to grow!
Once it became clear that she would become a regular, we named her Scarface after the many scars disfiguring her mouth and exposing her teeth.

Initial encounters were rather problematic, which made for many entries in the Naughty File.
She would continuously try to steal the bin (4:15) and attempt to scare us away by gaping (0:28), which is Tigerese for piss off, this belongs to me, and when we wouldn’t acquiesce but fight back, she would get seriously angry and become outright dangerous, like on 6:31 where she is actively snapping and trying to cause harm.
No mellow and docile here - huggers: learn from it!

We did, abandoned our attempts to steer her with the prods which he hates with a vengeance all the way to wrestling them out of our hands and then spitting them out (3:43) and now keep the food in a large aluminum box that we have dubbed the Rubik’s cube for Tiger Sharks and that her best and incredibly persistent attempts will neither dislodge nor crack.

When it comes to our private and very much personal relationship, it certainly improved - which is easy!
After that first attempt, she never, ever tried to bite the housing again. But on every visit, she would make it a point to pop by and give it a good sniff, resulting in some truly memorable footage. As an example, in one scene (mellow and thus not in the file) she comes from the left and positions herself inches away from the lens; then the whole body behind the head pivots from left to right and finally, she departs back to where she came from, without ever having touched the housing! In other scenes, I would have to lightly push her away, as in 2:40 and 6:08 where it looks like it is her touching the camera.
Stellar stuff!

Since I started lugging around the Boat, matters have alas become a tad more impersonal.
Now, it’s me who has to sneak up on her or position myself close to the feeder, where she barely deigns to acknowledge my presence by giving me a quick glance. Obviously, the size and electronic signature are completely different as the Fathom Imaging lens is one huge piece of inert material – or, horribile dictu, I may just be losing my sex appeal in line with what is happening in my terrestrial existence!
But despite of the snubbing: the love and the excitement will never falter!

Check her out (click to enlarge): here she is straight from the footage 3 days ago, beautiful and quite, but not yet terminally pregnant – meaning that she will stick around for another while before going walkabout, possibly for a couple of months.
So, what are you waiting for…. !!!


As to Wolf wanting to meet her?
I don’t usually share my girls but for him, I’ll make an exception.
He knows that and has long had an open invitation to come dive on the house – with one caveat: he will have to strap on a tank and do it on SCUBA!

So, what’s it gonna be?
DaWolf, will you make a small, insignificant compromise in order to meet a truly wonderful lady? Piece of cake for a waterman like you! Or will you remain the usual stubborn old fart and continue whining about the missed opportunity?

Am I putting you on the spot?
Well, altes Haus: wie Du mir! :)