With the hot African sun doing its thing in the mother city, Cape Town beach goers were in for a New Year’s treat on Thursday 4 January.
This comes after a whale shark made its way towards the shores of Clifton fourth beach.
Bathers were in awe of how large the sea creature was with many taking to social media to capture its arrival on video.
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The shark is suspected to be a juvenile who is either injured or has been separated from its mother.
Whale sharks are known to inhabit tropical waters and are rarely found in oceans below 21 ° C. Ironically, this is not the first time a whale shark ventured through cold waters; a similar incident happened in 2019 on Kommetjie beach.
Meanwhile, footage shows the lifeguards entering the water to redirect the shark to return from the direction it came from.
It is further said that this shark specie doesn’t pose any real threat to humans and feeds mostly on plankton. However, beachgoers are still encouraged to be cautious around marine life.
Another shark was spotted in Muizenberg on the same day just after 14h00. Lifeguards on duty notified the public and asked bathers to evacuate the waters.
The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) encourages bathers to remain calm, exit the water as quickly as possible, and notify the local lifesavers or shark spotters if a shark is seen at any of the beaches.
The NSRI recommends these safety precautions to staying safe from a shark attack:
- Do not swim, surf or surf-ski when birds, dolphins or seals are feeding nearby
- Do not swim, surf or surf-ski where, fishing or spear fishing is taking place
- Do not swim in deep water beyond the breakers
- Do not swim if you are bleeding
- Do not swim near river mouths
- Do not swim, surf or surf-ski at night
- Do not swim, surf or surf-ski if there has been a whale stranding nearby
- Obey beach officials and lifeguards if told to leave the water
- If a shark has recently been sighted in an area, consider using another beach for the day
- First-time visitors to beach areas should ask the local law enforcement official, lifeguards or locals about the area.
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