WHITE SHARK TRUST = WHITE SHARK DREAM
by Andy Brandy Casagrande IV (ABC4)
The GREAT WHITE SHARK (carcharodon carcharias) is the single most amazing animal I have ever known. It swims within every ocean on the planet... and for more than 40 million years evolution has not changed its structural design. It is the apex predator of the earth's largest domain... It swims at the top of the food chain... the perfect hunter, the perfect survivor, the perfect dream...
Yet, strangely... we know more about the complex ecosystems of the entire ocean than we do about this single species, known throughout the world as
"THE GREAT WHITE SHARK"!
We can explore and analyze the molecular biology of invisible elements millions of miles out into the universe... we can speak in real-time to anyone, anywhere in the world with little more than a whisper... we can extract and explain microscopic life forms thousands of fathoms deep within oceanic thermal vents... and we can even breath air and burn fire underwater!
Yet...we still cannot discover the mating grounds, track the migration patterns or even determine the longevity of the largest predatory fish in the world; with sizes ranging up to 7 meters/23 feet and weights in the thousands and thousands of kilos/pounds... it may as well be 'the great white ghost'... an elusive legend...
I guess this explains in part, why... since an age of which I cannot remember (let's just say 7) I have dreamed of studying these mysterious masters of the marine world. I have read every book, I have watched every documentary, I have studied every photograph, I have even written songs to protect and promote them, and I have traveled far across the world to find them... and now... I have finally found them...
On monday the 29th of september in the year 2003, at 9:47am... a few miles off the shores of South Africa's Danger Point... I ABC4 observed in real life... my first wild open ocean GREAT WHITE SHARK!!! She was 3.7 meters (just over 12 feet) long and thick as a bulldozer! WOW-WOW-WOW!!! She was beautiful! By far the prettiest girl I have ever-ever seen...
She swam slowly around our research boat as if announcing her presence and then disappeared into the murky depths... gone, just like that. "do they always do that? I mean just patrol a bit, examine and then vanish?" I asked. "well not exactly mate... just hold on sec" replied my team. So I waited... and before I could count to 7... she was back! Blitzing up to the surface... ambush style! But much to my surprise, just a split-second before chomping the large tuna fastened to our bait-line, she turned away suddenly as if she knew it was superficially placed. Such a super smart girl she was. She circled softly a few more times and then she was gone for good...
But not all great whites are as cute and quiet as my first...
Throughout the course of that day we observed a total of 11 South African Great White Sharks in roughly 7 hours time. Two baby Great Whites (so cute) and 9 adults with some reaching upwards of 4.5 meters/15 feet in length.
(You can only begin to imagine the state of my utter amazement / bewilderment)
Surreal... Unbelievable... My lifelong dream coming true right before my eyes!
So anyway...
Just to give you an idea of what exactly I do with regards to assisting this research team. Basically we head out early in the am (everyday that weather permits, luckily with the coming of summer also comes calmer seas) and zip out just passed the kelp forests (and without fail always catch a glimpse of the few completely psycho South African spear-fisherman and abalone divers who seem to not mind the fact that they just so happen to free dive in the 'great white sharkiest waters' in the world... yes, completely psycho!)
Anyway, just a few kilometers off shore... in about 9 to 11 meters depth, we anchor up and start straight away recording water temp/depth, wind & current direction/speed, air temp/pressure, distinctive weather patterns, etc/etc... after obtaining all necessary statistics, it's bait/chum - great white shark time! Oh, and if you don't have a strong stomach... along with some pretty hefty sea legs... you're in trouble mate!
So we chuck tuna/shark/liver/fish-oil/etc chum bits into the waters and fasten a large tuna or a few soup-fin shark heads to a bait-line... and then we wait. More often than not the first white shark shows up within 1/2 an hour or less. We generally spot their dorsal fins or massive black shadows at 25 to 50 meters out... and other times they just emerge suddenly from the depths... now that's when it gets scary/amazing!
Like I said, not all great white sharks are as nice as the first one I observed. In fact, quite a few are the complete and total opposite. Some very much resemble that all-too-famous movie star JAWS; repeatedly ambushing, chomping, thrashing, twisting, ripping, breaching... with some particularly aggressive ones even testing their brilliant bites on our boat engines (ah...those sharks are definitely my favorite...and very-very impressive)
Anyway, quite a few sharks completely catch us off guard... and if you think Sharks on TV are scary... you should see the real ambush style great whites here in South Africa! They rush-rip and ravage our bait before we even see them. Our objective is to not let them get the bait... we simply use it to lure them in as close as possible, such that we can photograph them (particularly their dorsal fins as these serve as the shark's fingerprint, no 2 dorsals are the same). We also record their behavior, finding some to be extremely aggressive and unpredictable... while others swim softly and carelessly as if they are half-asleep. We also record all scars, bite marks, satellite tags (though we have ceased tagging for a number of reasons), and distinctive markings, etc. It's simply amazing field work...
The team of researchers and assistants that I am working with come from all over the world, and I have quickly learned that I am just a puppy when it comes to knowledge of White Sharks, and all Sharks for that matter... Truly brilliant minds at work here... I am a very lucky boy and learning an incredible amount...
As for the rest of South Africa, I have seen very little thus far. I spent a few days in Cape Town, wandering the picturesque port city... meeting people from all walks of life. I spent a day with a street busker/guitar player... and only held out for 1 hour before buying my own. Wicked nice classical guitar... bought brand new for just under $50-US... strangely enough the first guitar I have ever bought new from a store... and I have 7 back in the USA. Needless to say, "the Great White Shark song" is quite the hit here in south africa (the great white shark capital of the world) and just by luck... I played the song out at sea for an international film crew ('VOX Tours' a popular travel program) that was shooting the sharks from our research boat... and apparently it will be seen by more than 5 million people throughout Germany. pretty cool aye...
I always remember as a kid when someone would ask me...
"So what do you want to be when you grow up little Andy?"
- a great white shark researcher -
So I am truly living the life I dream... and I am thankful for everything I have been given in this life... my family, my friends, my health, my mind and my freedom to explore...
Thank you kindly for your time and attention...
Best of luck in life and everything you do,
Love,
Andy Brandy Casagrande IV (ABC4)
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