Cape Town, South Africa, 2024

Day 1 - First Day at Cape RADD

Today marked the beginning of our adventure with Cape RADD, and it couldn’t have started on a more perfect note. Our journey began with a picturesque drive through the Cape Peninsula, where we were treated to stunning coastal views that demanded to be captured through our camera lenses. Each twist and turn offered a new, breathtaking perspective of the landscape.

Our drive concluded at Cape RADD’s charming facility at Water’s Edge Beach in Simon’s Town. After settling in, we indulged in a delicious lunch before the Cape RADD team welcomed us with an engaging presentation. They introduced us to the various ocean conservation and diver development projects we would be involved in, sparking an abundance of excitement and anticipation for the week ahead.

Post-lunch, we headed down to Boulders Beach, a renowned nesting area for penguins. To our delight, the beach was alive with the sight of these adorable creatures bustling about in their natural habitat. Watching the penguins go about their day was nothing short of magical. But the surprises didn’t stop there—we discovered a newfound animal friend, the Hyrax, which resembled a mix between a gopher and a squirrel. As we explored further, we climbed around the monumental boulders, occasionally stumbling upon a penguin tucked away between the rocks. 

The day concluded back at Cape RADD with a traditional South African Braai (BBQ). Our gracious hosts prepared an incredible feast, and the evening was filled with laughter, delicious food, and card games. We also watched a beautiful sunset on the beach!

Our first day with Cape RADD was an unforgettable blend of awe-inspiring landscapes, fascinating wildlife encounters, and wonderful camaraderie. If today is any indication of the week to come, we are in for an absolutely incredible experience. Stay tuned for more adventures!

-Sam Butcher

Day 2 -  Diving into our Volunteer Work (literally)

Happy first official day of volunteering! Woke up this morning around 7:30am and had breakfast waiting for us. Right after breakfast we got to try on our equipment including wetsuits, boots, fins and masks to get ready for our snorkel for science. We had a short briefing before heading to the backyard to get in the water. We are lucky to be staying in such a perfect location. In less than a two minute walk, we were at the beach where we were getting in the water from. We split into three groups and got right in. The purpose of this snorkel was to spot sharks in and around the kelp forest and photograph them to use for Cape Radd’s FinSpotter technology. The water was cold - like 55 degrees cold. It was incredible though and so fascinating to see the kelp forest for the first time and the abundance of marine life around. 

We warmed up afterwards and ate a delicious burger lunch before listening to a FinSpotter workshop from one of the co-founders of Cape Radd, Dylan. He taught us about one of the Citizens for Science projects they are working on here to track shark species and populations. Through uploading pictures of sharks to a database, Cape Radd is able to identify and match the shark to an existing shark in the database or add a new shark to their tracker. It was very neat to see how data analysis combined with the power of AI is used in marine science, especially for us coming from an engineering background. After our workshop, we got a chance to explore Simon’s Town before dinner. Shopped around and purchased some souvenirs before heading back for dinner. We love sitting at one big table for our meals and getting to chat amongst one another as well as with the Cape Radd folks and learn more about them and their projects. After dinner we all watched “My Octopus Teacher”, a Netflix documentary filmed right here in False Bay. Super fulfilling day and excited for the rest of the week’s adventures!

-Erin Benitez

Day 3 - The Great African Sea Forest

You always hear of forests aboveground, but what about underwater? South Africa, and in particular False Bay near Cape Town, is known for the Great African Sea Forest made of different types of algae. We listened to one of the founders of Cape RADD, Dylan, and learned that kelp in particular is hugely essential to the marine ecosystems here, as it provides shelter and protection, acts as a energy source, and even drift kelp on beaches gradually gathers sand to eventually create dune ecosystems. Much like deforestation in the Amazon or across the world, kelp deforestation is a problem not only in South Africa. Cape RADD uses two techniques to combat this by 1) mapping kelp density distributions and 2) altering grazer (ex. urchins) barrens to test their effect on kelp. We were asked to help with method 1 during our snorkel. After polar plunging yesterday, we said why not today? We were excited? apprehensive? to get in the water, and once we were in, we had a blast. Already we seem to be acclimated slightly to the chilly water. We split into two teams to survey Seaforth Beach kelp forests and used quadrants to measure kelp density in 1x1m2 squares, recording numbers with a GoPro. After this, we rinsed and warmed up with a much more streamlined process having learned how to handle freezing bodies. After showering, we ate a lunch consisting of fries, sandwiches, and fruit. Afterwards, a marine biologist from Cape Radd named Mark presented his research on parasitology to us, which focused on parasites in Puffader Shysharks. This research can help prevent deadly parasites from being released into the wild from aquariums. Following the presentation, we had a short break where everyone either tried to warm up in bed or played cards. After the break, we used microscopes to look at kelp samples and a spiny sea-star then a biologist named Mia presented her research on wedgefish genetics. We learned how genetics can help save sharks, as it can help identify migration patterns and even provide evidence of illegal shark fishing. After her presentation, we ate a delicious lasagna dinner cooked by our chef, Fran! After dinner we had time to chill, play cards, and visit the nearby convenience store for snacks and candy. At 7pm we began “Quiz Night”, an evening full of trivia hosted by Dani and Mark! We each had to create a mascot for the game, and Team Whammy (with mascot Whammy the Whale) won the mascot competition earning 5 bonus points! Go Whammy! We finished off the night with group bonding and reflective journaling, where we discussed how this trip compares to our expectations. 

-Jay Tatikonda & Maya Mileski

Day 4 - Shark, Shivers, and Scuba: The Day We Embraced our Inner Aquaman

70% of our planet is covered by the ocean, 5% of the ocean has been explored so far, ~0.000001% of that ocean was scuba dived through by EGLs today. 

After our usual 8am breakfast roll call, our group split into two - the certified divers (aka the pros) and the basic divers (aka seals in the making). 

The certified divers (Maya, Sam, and Erin) went off to search for shark egg encasings of various sharks including the Puffadder Shyshark, Pyjama Shark and Dark Shyshark. Unfortunately, they spent the first 5 minutes searching for the underwater clipboard they brought to collect data - because somebody dropped it. It was quickly recovered and the real collection commenced! After taking some photos of encasings were found and recorded, the divers headed back to the accommodation to analyze their data. This was their first non-recreational dive they had done and they noted how fulfilling it was to dive with a purpose and goal. Using scuba to collect data was a super unique experience and opened their eyes to a whole other world of science and the uses for scuba! 

The basic divers (Claudia, Maddy, Parker, Jay, Nick, Danny, Justin, and Paulina) started their day by completing the basic diver training course from local diving instructors Matt and Nick. After practicing some skills from the comfort of dry land, such as mask defogging and regulator recovery, they headed into the freezing cold water. The skills were practiced in the same place (Miller’s Point) as My Octopus Teacher was filmed. Despite the viability being about ½ a meter in front of you, if you listened really closely you could feel the presence of that very octopus in the waters. While the tide pool had some fierce waves, there were also a few warm waves produced by some divers contributing to the water cycle. This was where the basic skills were practiced and mastered before heading into the real adventure of the day - our first official dives. 

For many of us, it was the first diving experience we had. Exploring the depths of the underwater world was entirely foreign and felt like an entirely new planet. As you descend into the water, you’re completely weightless. You can’t hear anyone, which is why divers use various hand signals to communicate and the increasing pressure of the water makes your body react in different ways. It becomes you, your thoughts, and the natural environment around you - completely removing the barrier between you and the underwater world. During our dive we saw shark encasings and even a dark shy shark! (PSA: Sharks are actually incredibly vital to the environment and most sharks are not a danger to humans!) We completed our first official dive in about 40 minutes, and headed back to the accommodations for our reward: hot chocolate! 

After acting like fish all day, we decided to reconnect with our human roots with a “leisurely stroll” which ended up being a 2 hour mountain hike (our guides are crazy). Between slipping on every rock and getting stabbed by overgrown bushes, we finally reached a stunning ledge just in time for sunset. We spent the golden hour picture for the Gram, making sure our breathtaking views would be the envy of our followers.

-Paulina Rajski & Justin Wong

Day 5: Be the Water my Friend 

Today EGLs got up bright and early, our earliest day of the trip, and by 8 am we were ready to go at the Ocean Hub, Cape RADD’s base of operations. Building on our efforts yesterday, EGLs took back to the water in a pursuit of knowledge and eggs…

At the ocean hub, we split up into two groups, scuba and kayak. The scuba group ventured to A frame, a popular dive site in the area where an extremely diverse ecosystem exists. The group was specifically focused on the monitoring of shark eggs. We recorded the length, width, and gestation stage of the eggs to help Cape RADD marine biologists understand the health and development of shark populations in the area. The divers experienced strong surges underwater along with overwhelming kelp forests, proving to be both the most beautiful and difficult diving conditions. A small group of EGLs even got separated from the rest, but they kept their composure and followed protocol to ultimately regroup with everyone else. 

The kayakers ventured out to see Boulder’s Beach from a different perspective and help with ocean cleanup and assist in BRUV data recording. A BRUV is a baited remote underwater video, which aims to identify fish populations and monitor behavior of the ecosystem without humans present. Both of these missions were successful, and we reviewed our findings at night to find that our BRUV grabbed the attention of 7 different fish species, 3 shark species, and even an octopus. 

After a long day at sea, we recuperated with a group dinner at a local restaurant. Some of us even got out of our comfort zone and tried Springbok, the national animal of South Africa. It, like this day, was fantastic.

-Danny Colon