Well there was no time for jet lag. I arrived in Onrus around noon on Sunday and started work bright and early at 6:50am on Monday. I'd love to talk about what I do here, but there doesn't seem to be a "typical" day or even week. There are a few constants though; I will be cold, I will get wet, and I will pet/hold/feed a shark. I can at least tell you the highlights of this week though.
I caught my first shark! It was a leopard catshark and already had been tagged so we took some measurements, noted the tag number, and released it. These are not the typical sharks you see being much smaller (under 70cm) and often shy. When they feel vulnerable, they curl into a little donut and cover their eyes with their tail which is why we call them shysharks.
Friday we got to go on a field trip to Betty's Bay. This isn't just any other bay though. They have penguins. Lots of them. And I mean wild penguins, not like a zoo kind of thing. We had to stop the car to let penguins cross the road before we even got to the actual colony. These are African Penguins which are also known as Jackass Penguins. The name makes a lot of sense when you hear their call.
On the weekends, we still have to work occasionally but it normally means seeing some big sharks so I'm ok with it. We do Great White Shark Monitoring where we go out on a local cage diving vessel and take notes on the different sharks we see and their behaviour. During the trip this weekend, our bait also managed to attract some massive rays (possibly Short Tail Sting Rays) and a brave seal while we were there.
Our lab is located in Hermanus which is a beautiful coastal town in Walker Bay. During the rare moments where I have nothing else to do, I can always just enjoy the view.
Sounds like you had a fun day!