Tuesday, March 8th 2011

We woke up in the morning to the word that the boat’s engines had been fixed. We hopped out of bed at around 5:55 and then checked the phone which said “Please meet at 5:45 to put the cage back onto the boat. We hurry down there to the news that they actually don’t want to start until daytime so we head back up the road. In the meantime no one can find the keys that turn the alarm off and one of the crew opens the garage door, which sets off the alarm. All the volunteers are in the house for the next 30 minutes eating breakfast with the stupid alarm blaring. As it turns out Grant, one of the skippers, had accidentally taken the key fob with the garage alarm on it home the night before. So he had to, literally, run home and get it before we could turn it off. And to make things more interesting; the sewage tanks for the house were full or clogged or something so the plumbers had been in and out pumping them which left the house smelling rough. Finally we are able to get in the garage and pack up the buckey to take stuff to the boat.

They decided to test the fixed engine on us that morning. We get into the harbor and take off but it was clear right away that something was amiss. So Grant and Gerald turn the boat around and take us back to shore. Julia decided that since we couldn’t go to sea that we’d do lectures instead. All of these lectures are actually very interesting and we really wanted to have them. The first one was on shark biology. We learned about the different parts of the shark; the different senses they have (they have more than we do) etc.

Then the people that didn’t want to go to the swop shop this afternoon (Alex, Mikey, and David) went out with a different shark diving boat, Apex Predator. Our clients went with them. The rest of us stayed for Julia to give us another lecture; this time on shark behavior. I really enjoyed this one because white sharks have a lot of really interesting and unique behaviors. Sometimes they do whats called spyhopping, where they want to see something above the level of the water so they stick their heads out of the water and basically look around. They do this sometimes to see seals on rocks or people on boats. We’ve seen them do this a few times at the back of the boat right where the chumming platform is. Its really cool because they basically stop swimming and look right at you. Also, sharks use body language to communicate to each other as well as the things like the boat, the cage and even on occasion Julia's underwater camera. If they are uncomfortable they will point their pectoral fins straight down and arch their backs in the water. If they want to assert dominance to something unfamiliar they will gape at it. (Open and shut their mouth slowly at something to show how big their teeth are). One of their most interesting behaviors is when a shark comes out of the water, and you touch their nose (this overwhelms their electrosensors in their nose giving them a sensory high) they will almost go in a trance and open their mouth really wide before sliding straight back into the water. Often after this they will swim off upside down before coming back for more. (Sharks like being high).

After our second lecture I grabbed a quick shower (cause I was lookin grungy) and then we all hopped in the van and headed to the Swop Shop. Swop Shop is located in a nearby township. This is where the poorer people live. Often their houses are made of one room or pieced together from random chunks of wood or other materials. The swop shop is made up of a bright orange shipping container that is tucked away in a little corner. Inside is a bunch of shelves with little toys, clothes, school supplies and other random bits on it. (Pens and pencils are a hot item as are blank notebooks, also has things like erasers, toothbrushes, deodorant, hair clips, bracelets, marbles, balloons, dolls) In order to get these things the kids pick up recyclables (plastic and glass bottles, tin cans) and bring them. They got points based on how much they bring. The kids are so cute. They love it when you take pictures of them and all want to the see the screen of your camera afterwards. I was trying to get a picture of myself with the kids but whenever I help out the camera to get a myspace pic of us they would all run out from behind me to where I was holding the camera. Effectively leaving me alone in the picture. Eventually I wizened up and called them over to look at a pic then really quickly holding up the camera and taking a pic before they could move.

There were a few little kids I was especially fond of. One of the little girls, whenever I smiled at her, would break into giggles. She also liked to help us sort through the bags they brought. Another little boy, who showed up with his brother, started crying as soon as he saw me, but then he also cried when one of the girls inside tried to help him pick a toy and again when a lady offered him soup. So I guess its not just me.

Once we had a huge amount of recyclables, Andy threw everything, including that big bag, into the back of the truck and took it the recycling center. They do this every Tuesday and by the end of the month they usually make about 200 Rand from all the things they recycle. This money goes back into swop shop to buy soup or toys. He ended up making this trip three or four times before all the kids had finished. We then closed up the shipping container, hopped back in the bus and headed back to the house.

The other group had come home by this time, and so Andy decided to take us to get fish and chips and watch the sunset out by some big rocks. We went to this little hole in the wall called the The Fish Lady and most of us got the Stovkis and Chips which is some kind of white fish that’s been breaded and served with French fries. We grabbed our food and Andy drove us out to this real rocky area right on the shoreline. (Apparently in the winter it’s a good place to look at the whales) We sat on some rocks and ate our fish and chips and had a few beers. The temperature was great and its wasn;t too chilly even after the sun went down. We were there a few hours before heading back home to have (strange I know) tea and apple pancakes. I actually went to bed early that night at around 9pm.