South African Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! Of course, here, it's just another work day. How was my unique Thanksgiving spent, then? Trapping in the morning and chumming in the afternoon. Trapping didn't catch anything, unfortunately, but the chumming trip was one of the best I've had. We had a total of nine sharks. At several points, we had two to three sharks all circling the boat, taking turns going for the bait. As Emily pointed out, we are probably currently in the only job where having three sharks circling your boat is considered a good thing! We also saw the second largest shark I've seen here. She was easily as large as Fatty, but lost in the size competition because she wasn't quite as fat. 

However, I wasn't entirely without the good ol' American tradition of aiming for an early death due to overeating. Together with some of the interns at White Shark Africa, the cage diving operation here in Mossel Bay, we had a massive Thanksgiving dinner at Kaai 4. Sean, the owner, kindly cooked up a bunch of dishes special for us so after work, we cleaned up and headed over to the restaurant. We feasted on roosterkoek (bread cooked on a grill, a staple of braais), cauliflower in a white cheese sauce, mashed sweet potatoes, and mash with green beans. Everyone who wasn't vegan or vegetarian also enjoyed ox-tail stew and chicken and declared them excellent. 

Thanksgiving trapping. Emily and Natalie pulling up a trap.

Thanksgiving chumming. Emily and I in the crow's nest
on lookout.

The big shark.

L to R: Caitlin, Noah's nose, Brian, Kasandra, Jason,
and Natasha at Kaai 4.

Thanksgiving dinner at Kaai 4.