Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Shark Chronicles 048 - Alek 25 May - shift 18-01


photo from the previous shift


Alek decided to leave Seal Island as soon as we took over the shift. For the first few minutes when you start tracking you are usually a bit rusty and there is a danger of losing the shark. We had a few worrying moments during this time, as Alek speed off at a great rate of knots along the coast away from the island, but we managed to stick with it.

After about 50 minutes of swimming along the coast it reached a reef called Hartenbos (a popular swimming beach in the summer) and began patrolling back and forth in front of the beach. It also slowed down which made the tracking a bit easier.

One of the cool things about tracking at night is the bioluminescence in the water that shines neon green as it is disturbed. At about 11pm, Alek came to the surface to investigate us and looked like it belonged in the matrix, as all its body was shining green. More soon..

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