Great White Sharks are returning to Cape Town

Great whites have been spotted in Cape Town waters following a near four-year hiatus.

The False Bay, which stretches from Simons Town to Gordon’s Bay, was once a hotspot for sightings, so much so that Great White tourism thrived.

In the absence of these apex predators, struggling tour companies have had to change their attraction to Bronze Whalers, a species of shark known to be human-friendly and abundant in the area.

Remarkably, since 2020, sightings have gone from a few hundred a year to none at all. Now they’re back, but not in the numbers they once flourished at.

Are Great Whites back?

The end of 2023 marked the return of Great Whites to False Bay, with shark spotters—an organisation focused on enhancing water safety—reporting four sightings in a week.

Though these sharks have remained sparse throughout 2024, scientists are encouraged by the presence of any at all.

However, the numbers are still concerning. In 2011, a record 300 Great White sharks were observed near Kalk Bay, Muizenberg, Simon’s Town, and Gordon’s Bay.

Now, researchers are fortunate to see even twenty in a year.

What do experts have to say?

In a lengthy conversation with the Daily Maverick, Dave Hurwitz, a tour guide based in Simons town, said, “It is unclear whether these are sporadic, one-off sightings or if this may signal the return of white sharks to False Bay in more numbers. In either event, we would like to remind water users to exercise caution whenever they enter the ocean and be aware that there may be more white shark activity in the bay than we have experienced in recent years.

“There’s no way to tell if the great whites are back or just cruising through. We put out an alert because people have become complacent in the absence of whites—spotters haven’t seen them for a long time.  

“I don’t think they left because of an absence of food stocks. There’s been no drop in seal numbers or yellow fish or katonkel and smaller shark species. Actually, we’ve had good fish activity in the past few years and there has been no demersal longline fishing in False Bay. So I don’t think it’s food source.

“I do think orcas had a significant impact. When they arrived we started to see a reduction in white sharks so there seems to be a correlation, but of course, correlation doesn’t mean causation. There were probably a number of factors involved — it’s difficult to study such a highly migratory species.

“Our stats showed that whites declined when the orcas appeared once or twice, then when the orcas came repeatedly the whites disappeared completely. They had no avoidance tactics against orca predation.”

Have you visited the False Bay?

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