About 36km from our small town (Heidelberg) lies the picturesque seaside resort of Witsand. This town is situated at the mouth of the Breede River and also has the highest concentration of Southern Right whales on the South African coast (July till October). It is the country’s largest river estuary and some regard it as one of South Africa’s top fishing (note fishing) locations.
Now, to get to my story... Since I have known the farmer, we have heard many rumours about sharks in the Breede River. And not just any shark. The Zambezi shark, believed to be the most dangerous of all sharks to humans! In January 2009 the below female Zambezi shark(4m) was caught 5.5 kilometers upstream. Rumour turned to fact. One shark? Come on! So last night the farmer and I settled in to watch River Monsters on the Discovery Channel, and they have a whole episode dedicated to the sharks in the Breede River. Jeremy Wade, angler and presenter of River Monsters caught another TWO Zambezi Sharks. As with the first one in 2009, the sharks were tagged and set free. Unbelievably, there have been no reports of sharks attacking humans in the river...
We will still take our boat trips up the river, but skiing and tube riding is a no-no!
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i saw that programme.
ReplyDeleteit really freaked me out cos i have been skiing there, but no more!
Omg, thats hectic!!!! ;(
ReplyDeleteScary huh! Have also heard the shark story. We still swim in the river when in Malgas but have to admit its not as carefree and fun as usual when you pee your pants everytime you feel something 'funny' brushing up against your leg.
ReplyDeleteThat is definitely insane! That is a huge shark to be living in a River. This show makes me not want to swim in rivers and lakes anymore. It's a good thing I work for Dish Network; I can just watch the show instead of finding out first hand about river monsters. The show is so much better in HD you can see the definition on the scales and the episode he did about stingrays in Africa you could really see the detail on the serrated barb. Nice pictures and thanks for the info, if I ever travel to that part of the world I will be staying out of the water.
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