Cage Diving: A Day as Shark Bait

We went out for a day of shark tagging with the Angels off Cape Town.

"We know more about the moon than we do about great whites," joked Alison.

They're difficult to study. Alison drops a polystyrene seal off the back of the boat to lure the hungry predators. Then, she tags them with radio transmitters with a three-year battery life.

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It's simple, but Alison has uncovered shark secrets we never knew. She's discovered that Cape Town's sharks winter at Seal Island gorging on the tubby animals that give the island its name. No surprise there. But she's also discovered that the sharks summer, like us, at the beach. They come in to coastal waters to feed on fish. This fact terrifies me. I vow never to let my son in the water in Cape Town, where we vacation every year.

Then, Alison explains her theory. Man and shark spend a lot of time in close proximity, yet, in the Cape area, only four people have been killed by great whites in 40 years. Sure, there are some bites. But that's just idle curiosity, the odd mistake. I suppose the facts defeat my natural suspicion. I've got more chance of getting killed by a dog than a shark.

And the cage diving? Did it change my mind? Well, I'm probably more scared of sharks now than I ever was. But boy am I impressed by them. I'm on board with the Shark Angels: Let's save the stuff of my nightmares.