copps
Premium Member
Heh nice pics Copps, i do think the diving Africaoffroad(Craig) could offer up Durban ways would definitely appeal to you as would our Kingi Angelfish among others! The bull sharks /zambezi's we call them here, are also to be respected in those waters, but you are an accomplished diver and i would love to join you and Craig on a collecting expedition if you do get on the Imacsa train it, would be awesome!
You are a brave man to swim with Tigers they can be very dangerous too as they eat almost anything, i have dived only once on purpose with Great White Sharks and that was over 15 years ago at the very place they breach in Gansbaai about 5kms out at seal island in 8 metres of water and we were doing what was to become a regular tourist event called cage diving, although back then it was the first prototype cage and it was essentially chicken wire and wasnt going to stop the sharks if they really wanted in.
The one thing you quickly realize is that you aren't on top of the food chain anymore when you see them in their home environment ,an awe inspiring fish(can you imagine what its ancestor must have been like, i have a couple of Megalodon teeth as big as my hand) and not something i really want to see without some form of protection, quite a few attacks have happened the last couple of years and i think at least 4 people have been killed and eaten in the last 5 years if i am not mistaken around Cape Town.In December i dived the Seal colony around Robberg in Plettenberg bay and the Dive boat skipper gave us some interesting info about how the seals react When a great white approaches the colony , generally the seals will actually mob the shark in an attempt to drive it away from the colony and their pups. The sharks therefore prefer to ambush lone seals which have to run the guantlet between the colony and the open ocean to feed, It gave us only some comfort on the seal dive knowing we were diving with the food
Our waters are pretty chilly around 12-14 celsius on the Atlantic side an around 18-22 celsius on the Indian side. Durban and Aliwal shoal areas are more likely close to 22-25 celsius on average depending on the season.
I would love to dive the places you have though and to catch your own fish , the only place i have done that and caught my own fish was years ago in Mauritius and Comoros.
I would love to dive the Indian Ocean side of your country... not just for Apolemichthys kingi, but to see the amazing mix of tropical species that have made it there... In regards to bull sharks you are correct... they are to be respected. I grew up here in the US in the state of New Jersey, and traveled to the shore quite often. In 1916 there were four people killed in one summer there by sharks... dubbed the "Jersey Maneater"... which was this inspiration for the book and movie "Jaws"... the sharks are now believed to have been bull sharks... you must respect a shark that can travel 2500 miles up the Amazon River! Fortunately when I studied in the Amazon we were more worried about the candiru catfish...
I feel much more comfortable in the water with sharks when I am Scuba diving. Even snorkeling I feel better... when I am able to see the water... I always felt most vulnerable when I was body boarding growing up... and statistics would show that to be warranted... cage diving with white sharks would be something though... what a rush that must be!
While you would love to dive the places I have, I would love to dive Mauritius and the Comoros like you have! The grass is always greener it seems...
Nope... Even with no stops it was an 18 hour day for me...
While the fish are faster, you need to be smarter. Anyone who tries collecting just once will realize how tough it is and have a new respect for fish catchers! You exert yourself more than on any normal dive... try running a few hundred yards in a sprint and then breathing through a regulator!
I hope all is well in paradise out there... and thanks again for Genibabe junior... 
