The waves here are surprisingly wild, and the huge waves are coming at great speed, slamming into the hull of the ship. Also choppy was my stomach, which was constantly tumbling and tumbling in the same rhythm as the wild waves, hitting the stomach wall, burning the esophagus, trying to get out. I held the boat along the railing and swallowed the stomach solution that had surged to the base of my tongue again and again. The two seasickness pills taken before departure hardly worked, only causing dizziness in the brain, and this vertigo seemed to be exacerbated by the action of the stomach activity of overturning the river.
South Africa's Hangsbay is a world-famous shark viewing town known for its wild seas and high density of sharks
"This is Gansbaai." Captain and Guide Mike smiled and held out his finger to draw a semicircle in front of him. The semicircle is a gray-green, and this gray-green color extends toward the open sea, even at the deepest point, until it merges into a dark gray line on the horizon. Along the southern coastline of South Africa from east to west, the splendor of the Garden Avenue seems to come to an abrupt end in Hangsby, the impression of the blue that accompanies spring and runs through the lungs is instantly obscure here, and under the background of the dark clouds, the gray-green turbid waters seem to hide a chaotic world that can swallow everything.
The turbid waters of the mighty waves are ideal for great white sharks
Hangsby. I learned Mike's South African accent and read it silently. My heart was pounding. Like the tourists on the ship who kept vomiting, I also increased the number of visitors to Hangsbay by 1. The cumulative number of these "1s" has now surpassed that of Kruger National Park. We're here for just one superstar here who made obscure Hangsby famous all over the world.
Shark watching in cages is a safe way to see sharks up close. The guide uses bait to attract the shark, and the observer enters the cage and observes underwater.
Great white sharks. Just seeing these three words is enough to make shark fans beat their hearts. From the release of Spielberg's Jaws in 1975 to the arrival of tourists decades later just to see the majesty of the shark king, jaws seem to have never diminished. Hangsbay is the paradise of great white sharks. Our boat sails through a narrow waterway, the raging sea breeze allows the shark's sensitive sense of smell to perceive the presence of prey, the low visibility of the sea allows it to lurk in it, and the rolling waves will be the perfect hunting ground for sharks. This is the highest density of great white sharks in Hangsby , the Shark Corridor. Mike said today is the weather that great white sharks like.
In Hangs to visit sharks, oxygen cylinders are prohibited, so observers need to observe sharks through free diving
"There are sharks!" The voice of First Mate John came from the bow of the ship. I followed the prestige, and not far away seemed to float a black shadow, which seemed to be absent in the turbid waters. Before I could see clearly, Mike eagerly arranged for me and four others to enter the shark watching cage hanging from the side of the boat, and the two sailors slowly put the cage into the water. Although it is late spring in South Africa in October, the water temperature of 13 degrees Celsius is still cold even through the heavy cold suit. The cage shook violently the moment it entered the water, and the waves pushed the cage violently, making it almost impossible to grasp the special handrail inside the cage, as if trying to shake the cage apart. My foot was stuck on the outside of the cage and I couldn't get it out. At this time, it came...
The first shark appears, and if you look closely at the shark, you will find that the shark is so big
There was a stir on the surface of the sea, but I still didn't wait to see clearly, and I couldn't even take a long breath, and the cage was completely submerged in the water. In an instant, the icy water pierced the temple like a needle, and all the sounds from the civilized world were suddenly drowned in chaos, replaced by the sound of turbulent water, and through the diving goggles, the eyes were half blind, and the vision was dim. My body and the foot stuck outside the cage were twisting in opposite directions, at the mercy of the undercurrent. I choked on a large mouthful of water and clutched the cage armrest with my left hand. The cage was pulled out of the water every 10 seconds, and at the moment of discharge, I drained the water from my nose, and at the moment of the splash, I saw a triangular fin on the surface of the sea.
When the cage comes out of the water, the fins of the fish are crossed on the surface of the water, just like the picture in the movie
I held my breath, adjusted my standing position, and the cage was once again placed in the water. A huge black shadow swam by, and the force generated by this black shadow cutting through the water flow made the cage containing 5 people vibrate, and in the chaos, it appeared out of thin air and disappeared in an instant. At this moment, I felt something hit my foot stuck outside the cage hard, and in a panic, this foot actually pulled back, and this black shadow appeared again from the bottom of the cage, rubbing the cage body and rushing upwards, and by the refraction of light on the surface of the water, I saw the streamlined spindle body and the smooth brass skin.
Brass-colored skin is a major feature of the short-tailed shark, so the short-tailed shark is also named copper shark, meaning copper
The bronze whaler, the image of the sharp teeth, is a regular visitor to this water and one of the "ten most dangerous sharks in the world". Sharks have an extremely sensitive sense of smell and can smell the fishy smell of a drop of blood from a kilometer away. The 3-meter-long female shark (the male has a pair of flippers under the back of his belly, the female does not) follows the guts of the fish that John poured into the water, and the saltiness caught in the sea water stimulates its wildness, and above our heads, it violently twists its tail and "chases" the tuna head hanging on the rope. I looked up, trying to control my body, trying to catch a glimpse of the predator's speed, but the shark suddenly twisted its body and disappeared.
The pointed and long snout and large crescent-shaped beak are another feature of the short-tailed true shark
When the short-tailed shark swims over the cage, the sheer size is staggering
I tried to change directions, trying to find its trail. Just then, a long, pointed head popped out from the end of the cage. At the moment when the membrane opened, the yellow eye was peering into the cage, opposite my gaze. The short-tailed shark slowly grinned open its machete-like mouth, revealing its trademark hook-like teeth, which looked like it was smiling.
The short-tailed shark that spied inside the cage showed its teeth as if it were smiling. The eyes of the real shark have a waterproof instantaneous membrane.
In the non-anthropomorphic real world, this strange fish with an exclusive human expression makes the surroundings begin to twist, the boat, the cage and the travel companions around them gradually disappear in this distortion, the big fish with a sly smile is getting closer and closer, in the chaos, I feel myself dancing wildly with my arms trying to grab the armrest that no longer exists, and the whole world begins to tremble... It's hitting our cage!
The short-tailed shark reveals its true face.
The short-tailed shark quickly skimmed over the cage, its stout body rubbing against the cage, then its powerful tail slamming into the cage, and then it slammed up from below, ready for a second attack. But before it could get its body fully close to the cage, the short-tailed shark suddenly changed direction and swam towards the deep sea far from the bait, never to appear again. There is only one explanation for this sudden strange phenomenon: there are bigger and fierce predators in the water.
The short-tailed true shark has 5 pairs of gill slits. Males have a pair of flippers under the back of the abdomen, while females do not.
The short-tailed true shark has a powerful tail that acts as a rudder
Its appearance had long been memorized, but at this time the deep consciousness was trying to prevent it from appearing clearly in the brain, only a vague and huge outline. At the moment when the cage was pulled out of the water, a giant fin that had never been seen before towered above the water, cutting through the water like a sharp blade and swimming towards the bait on the surface. In the seconds of the cage's sinking and floating, a dark shadow that covered the sky burst out of the chaos and jumped out of the water, like a torpedo, instantly releasing unlimited energy when it fell into the water.
The moment the great white shark came out of the water, the short-tailed real shark just now was a small witch compared to it
From the water to the surface of the sea, from chaos to clarity, in the instantaneous switching of space, the great white shark fades its camouflage, and the full picture of the top predator is completely revealed outside the iron cage and in front of us. It opened its huge mouth, revealing its red gums, which were attached to the pyramid-like sharp teeth like a dagger, and the shark emperor's unparalleled strength and weapons were enough to make other people ashamed.
This is a female great white shark, about 4 meters tall and weighing more than 800 kilograms. Deep Blue, the largest known great white shark, is 6 meters long and weighs nearly 3 tons
Great white sharks will suddenly rush up from under the muddy water and raid prey such as seals.
Female great white sharks are usually larger than males, with a maximum body length of more than 6 meters and a weight of nearly 3 tons, and the female in front of her is 4 meters long and weighs more than 800 kilograms. Perhaps disdainful of the bait in front of it, it circled around the bait and disappeared into the water, leaving no trace.
There is no shortage of surfers in the record of great white shark attacks, and great white sharks mistake the people who are creeping on the surfboard for seals.
"There are fewer and fewer great white sharks here." Mike sighed as he looked in the direction the great white shark had left, several seabirds scrambling to grab the bait residue on the surface of the water, and the hunting ground that had just flown in blood looked a little lonely at this time. The image of sharks, or "bloodthirsty sea monsters" of sharks or some shark species, was amplified and rooted in people's hearts since the moment Spielberg's Jaws became popular around the world in 1975. For decades, scientists and environmentalists have repeatedly tried to reverse the prejudice that sharks, which are all "killing machines" with 8 orders and more than 500 different species (including hard-backed pygmy sharks and the like) with a body length of no more than 28 centimeters. Between 1958 and 2019, there were 2,789 recorded shark attacks worldwide, of which 439 were fatal (humans kill 10,000,000 sharks a year!). ）。 Among the more than 600 recorded shark attacks, 52 were killed by great white sharks, 34 by tiger sharks and 25 by bull sharks.
Between 1958 and 2018, shark attacks were recorded. The United States, Australia, and Africa ranked in the top three.
Some people joke that cows kill more people than sharks, and in the process of reversing prejudices, there is no lack of overcorrection, such as deliberately weakening the aggressiveness of sharks or even ignoring the fact that sharks cause deaths. Blindly fearing or not being afraid is too extreme, to be able to recognize sharks as an indispensable part of the ecological chain, to protect sharks, to keep a distance from them, to turn fear into reverence for nature, and to put away the arrogance of Homo sapiens at the top of the food chain, which is the safest and most rational way. In fact, the most terrifying scene is not the shark fin crossing the sea, but the sea surface is empty, and there are no shark fins anymore.