Not to darken the day, but....

Tourist killed by 'dinosaur-sized' shark off South African beach

From The Guardian

Witnesses today described their horror at seeing a tourist being eaten by a "gigantic" shark in South Africa's most popular holiday destination.

Lloyd Skinner was pulled under the surf and dragged out to sea by the shark, believed to be a great white, off Fish Hoek beach in Cape Town. His diving goggles and a dark patch of blood were all that remained in the water.

CLICK HERE to read the rest of the story.

This story is a complete tragedy, and my heart goes out to the friends and family of this man. I can't even imagine what it would be like to lose a loved one in such a terrifying way. Eliot sent this story to me with the comment "This is what nightmares are made of," and it really is.

Sharks are an important part of our eco system, and desperately need to be protected right now. However, we also need to remember that these are wild, dangerous animals with instinct that we can't even begin to understand. It bothers me so much when I hear someone say that sharks aren't dangerous. Although I don't believe they're out to kill humans, they are unpredictable and need to be respected.

White Shark Experience

So I kind of feel like this is a huge milestone for me. I don't know that I ever imagined myself getting in a cage to "view" sharks underwater. It's definitely something I've always thought about, but as far as actually doing it? I'm scared of sharks. It's a weird mixture of complete fear and fascination. I love reading books about sharks, or watching shark week on the Discovery Channel. I can't learn enough about them. But when it comes to diving? It's always in the back of my head and it terrifies me when I'm in the water.

So why did I decide to climb in a cage that's in water filled with chum and a guy throwing tuna heads off the boat? Well I guess the short answer is because I'm completely crazy. But the truth is, what scares me even more than the biggest man eater out there, is missing out on a great opportunity or experience because I was too scared to do it. So that is what made me climb into the cage on Saturday. Once I'd decided to do it, I was completely committed. But my heart was racing the whole time.

I have to say it was really cool, and given the chance again I would be back in that cage tomorrow. These sharks are really incredible creatures, and seeing them underwater takes away all the ferociousness and scary monster image that we're so often given, and turns them into the graceful kings of the ocean that they are.

All the sharks we saw were Great Whites. We were told in the beginning that there aren't any other large predatory animals in the area at this time of year. In total we saw 5 different sharks, the biggest one being around 3.5 meters (about 12 feet). A couple only did quick passes by the boat and some stayed around to check us out more.






Eliot getting psyched up


Chumming












I think these guys ate most of the guts that went over the boat.




Smiling for the camera

The Last big Thing

So this last weekend in South Africa we've planned our final excursion. It's something we've been wanting to do since we knew we were coming to Cape Town. So, tomorrow morning we're heading up the west coast to a place called Gansbaii to....get in a cage.


That's right we're going to witness THE Apex Predator that's refered to here in these waters as Air Jaws. I can't believe we're actually going to do this and I can't think too much about it because then I might not actually go through with it if I do. We're going through and outfit called the White Shark Projects, just so you know who to call if I don't update my blog on Monday morning. Hopefully we get to see some sharks up close. Yikes!

Kruger National Park- Part III

I think by now I don't have to say that we did indeed see a lot of animals. We're still talking about our trip, and amazed at the things we saw. The lions seem to be the star attraction in the park. Everywhere you go people are looking for lions, and they tend to draw the biggest crowd of cars. But I'm quite convinced that cats don't do ANYTHING at all, unless they're hungry. All the lions we saw were normally lazing around in a shady spot. But they are incredible to see.






Mama and cubs


Loving on eachother



Monkeys:
Probably the most charismatic animals. We had so much fun taking photos of these guys when we went on a walk around our camp one morning.


Vervet Monkeys




Chacma Baboons



Rhinoceros:
The most elusive of all the animals we saw in the park. The rhinos seemed very shy, which I think is probably a good thing. They're one of the biggest targets for poachers. They're horns are sought after in the Chinese markets because they're believed to be an aphrodisiac. Completely untrue, but little seems to be stronger than the Chinese superstition. I read in an article yesterday that in Mozambique they are removing all the horns from their wild rhinos to make them less of a target for poachers, apparently the horns grow back, but I'm not sure this is really the answer.






Post mud bath



Other critters we saw


Mongoose


~When I was a young WARTHOG!~


~When HE was a young WARTHOG!~
(If you've never seen The Lion King that won't make sense- sorry)


~I'm a HIP HOP A-POTAMOUS~


~My RHYMES are bottomless~
(if you've never seen Flight of the Concords that won't make sense either- sorry again)


Hippos and Crocs


The African Buffalo- The deadliest of the Big 5


Wildabeest


Lazy pooch having a stretch.


Spotted Hyena: Strongest jaws in the animal kingdom.


Hyenas taking over a watering hole and making the zebra very nervous. This was before the giraffe saved the day.

And I'm done. It was really a special trip for us, and I'm glad I have such great memories to keep and hold onto. We're really fortunate to be able to experience the place we're living in to such extents, and I'm glad I have an outlet to share it with you.

Kruger National Park- Part II

2nd installment of Kruger photos. The giraffe were so beautiful and I was in complete awe of them. They seem like they're moving slow, but with those long legs they cover a lot of ground really quickly.


Tall horse


Tongue in nose. This was a little guy, you can tell by the light coloring.


We watched this guy for a while. This watering hole was surrounded by hyenas (not pictured) and the zebra weren't quite brave enough to get near it, but the giraffe didn't have much of a problem. We could tell he took some time looking around before crouching down into this awkward position. It can't be too easy to get out of in a hurry.


I thought it was really cool getting some shots of him in this position.


Slowly the zebra started gaining more confidence and went for the water.



Antelope:
Everywhere you look in the Kruger there's some sort of antelope hanging out, feeding on grass or small bushes. Seemingly unafraid of the cars, but always on the lookout for something else lurking in the grass.


Water Buck: Nuzzling or getting ready to have it out? I think they were friends ;-)


Impala: Definitely had the biggest presence in the park.


Steinbok: We thought these ones looked like Bambi. Completely full grown, but probably wouldn't come up past my knees.




More impala. These ones actually were having it out.


Kudu


Birds:
I couldn't believe how many vibrantly colored birds we saw. All different shapes and sizes, and a lot of personalities. Here's just a handful.


Horn Bill


Saddle Billed Stork: Endangered in South Africa and less than 100 in Kruger.


Pink Stork


I can't remember what this guy was called, but he was so pretty and whenever he did his little song he would put his head straight down and shake his whole body.


Grey "go-away" Bird: Not sure how he got the name.




Water Thick-knee


These guys were harrassing us at breakfast and this one took off with the bacon fat I'd left on my plate.


Yellow Billed Kite: Feeding on something in the early morning.




Hammerkop




Vulture drying out his wings.


Vulture sitting on a nest.

I'll post the last of them tomorrow! It's nice stretching my weekend adventure out over a few posts. Tomorrow you can look forward to lions, rhinos and other critters!