Diving with Prehistoric Sharks

I had a fantastic dive with the sevengill cowsharks at Pyramid Rock on Friday morning. Despite knowing about their presence at this site for many years I had never actually dived there. Friday’s dive was a revelation, a completely magical experience in only 10m of water. For over an hour we shared the site with approximately 15 large cowsharks. I spotted one or two smaller males but the rest appeared to be predominantly females. Descending the shot line on the sandy bottom I wondered how long I would have to wait before the sharks put in an appearance but the first one arrived before I had even turned my camera on. This dive is a photographer’s dream with the sharks consistently approaching within an arms length. My strobe sync cable packed up just before the dive so I decided to forego the use of strobes and use only natural light and one of Maestro Mustard's Magic Filters. This proved to be a blessing as there was a lot of stirred up sand in the water. See http://www.flickr.com/photos/jtresfon/sets...57617990770430/ for some photos.

Wow it's really cool ! can we see them all the time? do you feed / chum them?

That's amazing. Really are prehistoric looking.

Where exactly is Pyramid Rock? Obviously this is a good time for them, but is there any specific season(s), conditions etc?

That's just not fair... I just got 2 lousy sharks in crap viz and surgy over 10 dives and all were shy! Great stuff Jean. We must do hit it when I'm next in town.

Jeff, Pyramid Rock is south of Simonstown. You just follow Miller's Road down to the Miller's Point. Here's a video by Barry Skinstad from earlier this year:

http://www.earth-touch.com/result.php?i=Co...-from-the-gloom

Hi Loftus

Pyramind Rock is a short distance outside of Simons Town. (+- 3km) From my litlle experience it would seem that the sharks are not so much season bound to the spot and favouring certain conditions. I have dived with them a few times (different times during the year) and also dived there few times without spotting any.

If one read up more on these sharks you will see that they favour deep water, so its interesting that they so oftem are spotted at Pyramind inspite it being a shallow dive. (must be something that attracts them to the site) It is also state that they are shy, but the ones i have encounter at this site has always been very curious and as Jean said literaly comes with in touching range:) Also on a number of accounts, i had to move out of there way, they choose a path and stick to it:)

Personally i like this site, even when there are now sharks. It can be done both as a shore or boat dive. There are some slippery rocks to get over, which will make it a rather difficult shore entry with a SLR rig, but can be done. Other wise its a short boat ride. (+- 2km just to get out of the small harbour and around the point)

Looks like great fun. Nice pix.

Alex

Sevengills!

I used to work with them everyday at the Melbourne Aquarium. Coolest shark !

Cal

Amazing creatures! I bet it was a great dive!!

Thanks for sharing!

Awesome shots, especially 4 and 5. Cool looking creatures. Thanks!

Great shots dude. They really do look prehistoric don't they. I like this one best.

Great shots, I dived Pyramid Rock a few years ago encountering many of them too. I had a macro lens on!! It seems the magic filter picks the reds up very clearly. Was the viz as good as it is in your shots, or did the filter do some "magic"?

I also enjoyed your blue shots on Fickr. I am a very frustated diver as I just cannot seem to get my timing on these palegic trips.

Thanks for the comments. Answers to some questions:

1. can we see them all the time? do you feed / chum them?

Apparently they can be seen most of the year at Pyramid. No feeding or chumming is allowed or needed. The dive site lies within the Marine Protected Area.

2. Where exactly is Pyramid Rock? Obviously this is a good time for them, but is there any specific season(s), conditions etc?

As per Drew, Pyramid is just 500m south of Millers and can be done as a shore dive. I would say that the conditions are more important for the photography than for the sharks.

3. Was the viz as good as it is in your shots, or did the filter do some "magic"?

The viz was around 5-8m. The 10.5mm is responsible for the good viz in the photos by cutting out the amout of water between subject and lens and of course using natural light reduces the backscatter from suspended sand particles.

This is a world class dive and should be tried by any visitors to the Cape!

We get quite a few of these in Victoria as well, being a chance to see one or two on a number of dives but I dont know anywhere where they congregate like this. I know an abalone diver here in Victoria who got a good bump from a big seven giller a few years ago. He talks it up, but it was just a bit of harmless fun from the shark.