[VIDEO] Divers swim with sharks feasting on dead whale

This has proven sharks are not dangerous.

August 25, 2015

Earl Baillache 2 minutes read

Warner Beach underwater photographer, Allen Walker was one of the first people Emil Pirzenthal called after he heard about the whale carcass and this is just one of the many fantastic images Allen captured of the feeding frenzy.

Local and international divers got the treat of a lifetime when they got to free swim with and observe sharks feeding off a dead humpback whale at Scottburgh at the weekend.

Owner of Aliwal Shoal Adventures, Emil Pirzenthal received a call from a Blue Oceans Dive Resort boat crew who first spotted the whale carcass at about 7am on Saturday, 22 August.

“It was heading towards public beaches and into the Scottburgh sharks nets, so I grabbed an old trawler anchor and thick rope, phoned two photographers and headed out to it,” he said.

Hard to see in this pic but humpback whale carcass now further south near Scottburgh - still tons of sharks feeding pic.twitter.com/zz58JC9ZLA
— Olivia Symcox (@OliviaSymcox) August 23, 2015

“It was slightly north of Greenpoint. I wrapped the rope around its tail to tow it, because I didn’t want us to lose any sharks in the nets, like the 14 tigers that died last year in a similar incident.

I was a bit worried about getting in the water with about 20 tiger sharks, two great whites of about 4.5m and 3.5m and too many duskies and Zambezis to count.

I had to convince them to stop eating, while I roped it, which was quite daunting with about 45 sharks around me at once. One of the great whites kept pushing me. Visibility was also not great.

No-one had ever dived with great whites while feeding on a carcass. But it was amazing. The sharks were only interested in feeding on the whale.”

Dive boats gathered around whale carcass off Clansthal #midsouthcoast #greatwhites #tigers #duskies bathing not safe pic.twitter.com/Ir5iUrQcDA
— Olivia Symcox (@OliviaSymcox) August 23, 2015

Emil anchored the carcass off Greenpoint and about 15 divers took advantage of the spectacle, free diving around the sharks, with no hint of risk, according to owner of Meridian Dive, Barry Coleman.

“It was an incredible scene, with no aggression from the sharks. They were not interested in us, only curious. Their primary objective was to feed off the dead whale. It was quite amazing.”

The spectacle was filmed by a BBC film crew from Cape Town and divers drove down from Johannesburg overnight.

“This will hopefully revitalise the local dive industry. There is a lot of excitement now in the industry and this has proven sharks are not dangerous. They have a specific food group.”
“Hopefully this will get the local dive industry together to promote diving in the area,” said Barry.

On Sunday Emil was informed by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife he had to cut the carcass free. “I towed it out about 2km further out to sea, so that the current would catch it and it would miss Scottburgh. I have no idea where it is now, but some did say they spotted a whale carcass off Margate. Hopefully I saved a few sharks from landing in the nets.