Anacapa marine reserve, Channel Islands, California, USA
Giant Black sea bass.
We are getting very excited about our upcoming Guadalupe great white shark trip next week. First trip of the season. So after been over in a very windy but extremly rich San Miguel with tons of Abolon and even a wolf eel. We arrived in a calm sunny Anacapa.
We got in to a kelp bed and watched Giant 200 pounder Black Sea Bass. Just enorm!! It does not work to rusch towards them , It is like being in the forest looking for an elephant or big game. Sneeking up on it behind the kelp and the rocks and trying to hold your breath. Really fun and really exiting to see this giants.
Surface conditions: Temp 25 C sunny and calm until afternoon when weather picked up.
Underwater conditions: 61-63 F around 16-17 Viz from 10 m 30-35 ft. No current.
Dive guide Sten
San Clemente , Channel islands , California USA
Harbour seals and Mola Mola in dense kelp forest at San Clemente.
This morning the vizibility was really good , water was blue and it was a real joy to get in to the water first meeting bat rays swimming in the border of the sand and the kelp. Viz got a little bit less but compensated us with a clear blue sky and sun. James one of our guest spotted a mola mola down at 90 feet, and several of us played around with harbour seals in the kelp , really curious quiet thing!
San Clemente gave us a lot of playground in looking at cracks and holes. there seems to be langustins every where! As well the soup fin shark or the Tope shark was vizible as last trip , but not as common as we had them last week. Some of the divers came over an old wreck that we did not knew about a surprise. It was probably one of the most apriciated dives of this week. We just have enjoyed Enriques pasta and are soon on our way back to land Ensenada. The seas are mild, so the crossing seems like it will get smooth. We will be back next week for sure!
Surface conditions: sunny 25C calm weather deep long swell.
Underwater conditions: to start a 5-60 ft viz that went down to 30 ft in the day. A bit surgy. temp colder then last week , down to 54F 11 C
Dive guide Sten
I had four hours to pack, find my passport and convince my wife that this was a good idea. The phone call I’d received was brief – I knew the Nautilus Explorer was in drydock somewhere in Ensenada Mexico and they needed help as Transport Canada sprung a huge task list on them without any warning. They were apparently in the process of cutting holes in the outer hull to allow access to void spaces and such. One ferry, a cab, three flights, a bus, a trolly and one Mexicoach ride later, I found myself walking through Ensenada. I could smell the ocean from the bus stop so I trusted my nose (and not my terrible Spanish) to find the harbour. As luck would have it, there she was. The Nautilus Explorer – high and dry. Not knowing what I was in for, I proudly marched up to the vessel and announced my arrival. Two weeks and countless hours of back breaking, sweat wrenching, muscle aching work later, the ship was finally relaunched and I saw her float for the first time. During the refit I had seriously considered (more than once) the option of walking away from all the hard work and enjoying a cervessa and a beach somewhere in the sun. But now I felt proud of what I had helped accomplish. And as an unexpected reward, I was asked to join the next charter as a crew member in order to help finish what had not been completed while “on the hard”. Although the days at sea were still long and filled with hard work, the experience was something very special. Our first day out, we were completely surrounded by whales! I had never seen so many whales at one time and so up close! A few days later I swam with dolphins! Now, nearing the end of my second week at sea, I am training and working as a deckhand. I’m told that the novelty of the job will wear off sooner or later but I honestly can’t see how. So with just a few hours notice, I left home for what turned out to be a month. I’m glad I did but next time – I will pack more socks.
Xander
