South Africa is home to an incredible diversity of marine life, largely attributable to the extreme contrast between the oceans on its west and east coasts. Many people when they hear the word "shark" in False Bay immediately think of great white sharks. But thanks to the meeting and mixing of the Indian and Atlantic oceans right on the Cape's doorstep, it allows Cape Town to be home to an incredible diversity of shark species.
Discover the sharks of South Africa and join Oceans Africa for an epic diving adventure. Oceans Africa have been crafting specialist dive tours in South Africa for over 20 years. We are passionate about sharks and shark diving.
Monsters of the deep, or misunderstood, curious fish? Hollywood would have the world believe that great whites are man-eating beasts, but the reality is much more complex. After years of being hunted as trophies, prized for their fins and teeth, great white shark numbers are declining. Now that you know how unique and interesting great whites are, you may be inspired to lend a hand in shark protection. Supporting their conservation is instrumental in caring for the oceans as a whole.
Here's everything you need to know about sharks in South Africa.
Shark Diversity in South Africa
Some ninety-eight species of shark can be found in South African waters putting South Africa on the world map for shark diving enthusiasts. False Bay is home to 27 different species of shark, ray and chimaera (all cartilagenous fish) which represent 15 families. Of the various species of shark found off South Africa the majority are harmless and are rarely encountered.
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Sharks, rays and skates all belong to the class Chondrichthyes (cartilaginous fish) - their skeletons being made up of cartilage, unlike those of bony fish. All species of shark are carnivorous, they have a keen sense of smell and are highly sensitive to vibrations and electrical impulses.
Communication and Behavior
Sharks can’t make any noise, so they use body language to communicate. Opening their jaws, nodding their heads, and arching their bodies can be social signals as two sharks ‘talk’ to each other. For example, when two sharks are after the same prey, they will put on a slapping display to deter the other.
Despite their fame, great white sharks are mysterious creatures. Little is known about their behavior or biology. More research is crucial for understanding these marine animals and helping to protect them. Gansbaai South Africa is an important location for great white research. Eco-tourism activities in Gansbaai, such as great white shark cage diving, contributing to valuable bodies of research and enabling shark protection projects.
Dive Into Adventure South Africa’s Shark Cage Diving Hotspots
Great White Sharks: Apex Predators
As apex predators, sharks play an important role in regulating the health of coral reefs and other ocean environments, according to Oceana. Great whites control the number of other predatory fish in the areas they patrol, maintaining balance in the food chain. As the number of great whites and other sharks declines, there is a ripple-on effect. Mid-level predatory fish populations surge, which impacts the number of herbivorous fish, resulting in an increase in algae.
Seasonal Migration and Body Temperature
South Africa’s great white sharks migrate seasonally. Some swim all the way from South Africa to Australia and back. In other parts of the world, great whites swim across the Atlantic, or from the California coast out into the middle of the Pacific Swimming thousands of miles is standard for many great whites.
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Compared to other sharks, great whites maintain high body temperatures. Their powerful muscles create heat when they contract, warming their blood and sustaining a core temperature as high as 25 degrees. This means that unlike many other species of sharks - which can’t regulate their body temperature - great whites can swim in frigid water.
Reproduction and Early Life
No one has ever observed great whites giving birth. However, researchers understand that when the pups are born, they immediately swim away from their mother. It’s thought that this is to prevent the mother eating her young. An absence of motherhood means the young sharks are born fully prepared to take care of themselves.
Shark Encounters and Conservation
The reason? Great whites don’t attack humans because they’re hunting them, but out of curiosity. They are very curious creatures and their method of investigating something - whether a crab pot or a human on a surfboard - is to take a bite as a way of collecting tactile evidence. This explains why in most attacks on humans, great whites just take one bite then swim away. Unfortunately this curiosity has given them a bad reputation.
That’s only one step before endangered. These sharks are often also caught and killed as a byproduct of the commercial fishing industry. A slow reproductive cycle means that shark numbers take a long time to recover.
Only in rare circumstances will we close a beach for any other shark species. Sharks have lived on this earth for over 400 million years, so they were here before dinosaurs! sadly though, in the last 30 years, humans have driven this creature, with it’s 400 million years of evolutionary success, to the brink of extinction.
Read also: Exploring Morocco's Marine Life: Sharks
Our great white conservation project is devoted to both raising awareness of the importance of the sharks, while helping marine biologists to carry out important research. Get thrills and the reward of contributing to conservation at the same time.
Shark Identification
When trying to identify any wild animals, colour is usually the least important feature. When it comes to identifying sharks try get a good look at the tail and any obvious markings - spots patterns and dark or light tips on the fins are always useful.
Common Shark Species in South Africa
Here are some shark species commonly found in South Africa:
- Great White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias): Unmistakable.
- Whale Shark (Rhinocodon typus)
- Cow Shark or Broadnose Sevengill Shark (Notorynchus cepedianus)
- Dusky Shark (Carcharhinus obscurus)
- Bronze Whaler or Copper Shark (Carcharhinus brachyurus): Bronze whalers can attain a length of over 3m.
- Oceanic Blacktip Shark (Carcharhinus limbatus)
- Shortfin Mako Shark (Isurus oxyrinchus)
- Hammerhead Shark (Sp.)
- Bull Shark (Zambezi) Carcharhinus leucas: Bull sharks may reach over 4m in length.
- Spotted Ragged Tooth Shark (Charcharius taurus): Ragged toothed sharks are perhaps South Africa’s best loved sharks.
- Tiger Shark (Galeocerdo cuvier)
- Blue Shark (Prionace glauca)
Shark Diving South Africa Tour Package
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Sightings of large pelagic sharks in South Africa are mostly confined to recognised areas - either rest areas or where food is most abundant - see Cape Town, Protea Banks, Aliwal Shoal, Sodwana Bay, cage diving and the sardine run. Basking sharks, thresher sharks, silvertips, white tip reef sharks, soupfin and numerous smaller reef sharks are among the many species found in our coastal waters that are yet to be included in this page.
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