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Skipping a morning of diving to watch humpback whales at Socorro Island – divemaster and guest log – 20 March, 2010

Saturday, March 20th, 2010

So we sarted our pilot project to skip a scuba dive and go out in small groups in the morning to watch the humpback whales. It was an Success!! We managed to see whale in the water twice the first try and our training that we have got is giving results it made me excited! Something new to do at  Socorro Island. All the guests I talked to said it was defenitely worth skipping a scuba dive for this. So we will go on.
We had so much whale at Punta Tosca (Socorro)  that you did not know where to look. and the singing was so strong, That just laying in the water closing your eyes hold your breath and listening is a beautiful time of meditation and contemplation.

Punta Tosca was not giving easy on the other animals, we got manta both dive but viz was low all over. We tried to go up to Roca Oneil, but rthe swell was to big so in to Aquarium and a exploratary dive close by was not that bad guest named it for Area 51 after the place where aliens fly over Nevada , cause of its strange vulcanic topography.

At cabo pearce last day we had a beautiful day flat water and sunny, down under again,, hard to get the animals, we did get hammerhead sharks and a very curiouse silvertip shark in fullsize again coming in on a sharkwispering. And a giant manta ray, but not for long.

Interessting was to find barnacles from humpback whales laying on the bottom of Cabo Pierce, wonder if a whale either has scraped him self on the rock or maybe more possible lost them under a fight over a pretty girl humpback whale. The barnaclesare good 2 inches big and very heavy and are just like spikes on their pectoralfins that they use to fight with sometimes.

This trip was hard to get the big animals, vizibility was low, but the animals are there.

Dive guide Sten

Surface conditions: very little wind sunny and warm =30 C

Underwater conditions: A bit turbid water , but cleared up now and then 35-40 ft on the west side of Socorro. And 30-60 ft on the east side. Temp down to 74F 24 C

————— Guest Log ————–
Christy – The dive started with DM Pedro doing his patented manta dance at the bottom of the line. 15 minutes later, two giant mantas, one of which decided to hang around and visit. Very cool! Go Pedro! Now if he would just stop scaring the crap out of the snorkelers on the night snorkel with the silky sharks.

In general, I had expected to see more mantas, and have more pelagic interaction, and the visibility was not as good as expected. However, I did have some good dolphin dives and had my first dives with galapagos sharks. Of course this is not a zoo, it’s the wild, so I would love to come back to give it another shot. Lori

Ron – The most unique experience for me this trip was snorkeling with a humpback calf and the mother. That was an experience worth giving up a dive for, amazing.

Joe –  My giant manta coincided with my first camera dive… stand still while I turn it on and set the profile!!!  too close… back up a little…  the second pass I was able to get some sweet shots.

Engineer Dusan – I was cleaning barnacles along the side of the ship with my snorkel gear, and Joe was with me watching. Suddenly Joe said to me, in a very calm voice, Dusan, do you know there is a shark underneath us? I looked down, saw the shark, and start to squeeze the screwdriver in my hand. I said, work’s over! I was glad to make it back to the boat, and all night for some reason I was dreaming about lions. Now everytime I go anywhere with Joe I will feel safe.

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Posted in Animals, Cabo Pearce, Captains Log, Destinations, Galapagos Shark, Giant Mantas, Guest Blog, Hammerhead shark, Humpback Whale, Manta, Punta Tosca, Roca Oneil, Socorro, Socorro Island, dolphin, shark, silvertip reef shark | No Comments »

Close enough to a wild dolphins to see it’s beautiful eye and tiny spring of it’s pupil – it’s hazelnut redish in colour with a lot of kind of wrinkles – March 17, 2010

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

This two first days in San benedictos canyon was…ashy!  The vizibility went down to some times 10ft!!! we went around trying to find clearer water the first day, but it was all the same. Probably cause last weeks bigger waves that have ripped down the volcanic ash from San Benedicto Island which last erupted in 1952.  We could see a hammer head shark..and it was gone, we could see a giant manta ray .and it was gone, and hear dolphins and hump back whales. And the humpback whales gave us a show at least on the surface!

Next day we took Nautilus Explorer to the Boiler and the viz was great..but then no animals, not a single manta and one hammerhead. The best dive we did this two days was probably last dive a bit more away of canyon on a new discovered cleaning site. We got loads of fish and whitetipa and mantas was seen at the surface but not under water.

Well honest to say it was one of the worst results I had from dear San Ben.
We are back after two months as the Socorro island was closed. It was nice to recognice the faces from the officer from the Navy and see how things has been down here.  After the inspection we headed for Cabo Pearce.

And it was giving a lot to us as well from hard current to none. and 4 spieces of sharks whitetip , silvertip, galapagos and hammerheads sharks. A giant manta finally came up and went nose to nose with the divers. But the most spectacular was this group of 6 bottlenose dolphins spinning around us and watching us disapearing and coming back again. In a moment the just stayed still and went face to face to us that close that we could admire their beautiful eyes and tiny sping of its pupil. the colour of its eye is hazelnut redish couloured with a lot of kind of wrinkels..very had to describe but it hits you when you discover it. Not often you have the chance to investigate an eye of a wild dolphin, i never will get tired of them!  Diveguide Sten

Surface condition: windy mostly sunny and not bad chop. 30 C

Underwater condition: Viz 15-25m up to 90 ft. temp 24C Lots to none current.

—————– GUEST BLOG ——————-

We have been to San Benedicto and did the Canyon and the Boiler.  Animal life has not been kind to us, but we have seen giant Mantas, hammerhead sharks, and white tip sharks underwater and plenty of humpback whales above water. The Boiler was very exciting, and dealing with the surge was exciting. The last dive of the day featured Sten (the Dude) playing Pied Piper. Hard to describe but it worked. This dive also featured new dive computer going on vacation while underwater.
Jeannette, keep up the therapy in Chicago.
Jorge

Dos primeros dias en San Benedicto.  Estan ahi, estan todos ahi: las mantas, los tiburones, los delfines y las ballenas.  El problema es que es mas facil verlos desde el barco que desde el agua. Que visibilidad tan mala. El segundo dia estuvimos en The Boyler; mucha mejor visibilidad, pero los animales fueron esquivos. La resaca y el oleaje ayudaron a que todo fuera mas divertido. La parada de seguridad y la vuelta a bordo fue lo mejor del dia, todo un ejercicio de buceo. Si no ves lo que buscas, al menos es bueno entrenarse un poco.
Manana, Socorro. Great expectations.
Saludos,
Chus Barrientos.

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Posted in Animals, Cabo Pearce, Captains Log, Destinations, Giant Mantas, Hammerhead shark, Humpback Whale, Nautilus Explorer, San Benedicto, Socorro, The Boiler, The Canyon, bottlenose dolphin, dolphin, silvertip reef shark, whitetip reef shark | No Comments »

Bumpy ride home from Socorro and San Benedicto Island with the biggest seas we have seen in many years.

Tuesday, March 16th, 2010

After a bumpy ride back home on the last trip the wind had abated and seas calmed enough to allow for a very pleasant crossing from Cabo San Lucas to our first stop of the Socorro Island, San Benedicto. The seas were rough on the ride in with very unusual weather.  No associated fronts or low’s or anything like that.  Just a general uneasiness throughout the Pacific basin with the biggest seas we have seen in quite a few years.  31 hours of steaming to get home using reduced power to make for an easier ride which meant we got into Cabo in the middle of the night.. The Nautilus is a beautiful ship and the most guests slept through most of it.  Nice to revert back to a typically smooth crossing southbound. Whale spouts and dolphins greeted us as we approached the island and the mild rolling of the vessel abated as we rounded the southern tip of the island and dropped anchor in the lee of the volcanic shore. Our first dive site of this trip was the Canyon, a popular spot for schooling hammerhead sharks, humpback whales, and giant manta rays.
Visibility beneath the surface today was unfortunately quite low, probably due to the inclement weather of the previous days stirring up the volcanic ash which makes up the shoreline here. After a quiet check-out dive with no big animals spotted the visibility did increase a little and allowed for two good dives in the afternoon. Two giant manta rays were spotted on dive two, although interaction was limited, and many of the divers encountered a small school of hammerheads who approached quite close. Overall a very good day and a good start to this week of diving.

Captain Gordon Kipp

Surface conditions: skies clear early, clouding over in the afternoon, air temp 74-78F, seas calm in the anchorage.

Diving conditions: Current mild, visibility 3m – 15m, water temp 74-76F.

Photo on the left – Divemaster Pedro apologizing that we only have 38 different micro-brew beer to choose from on this trip

Photo on the right – “no kidding, the giant manta was this big  –>>  evening cocktail hour before dinner on the Nautilus Explorer”

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Posted in Animals, Cabo San Lucas, Captains Log, Destinations, Giant Mantas, Hammerhead shark, Humpback Whale, Nautilus Explorer, San Benedicto, Socorro Island, The Canyon, dolphin, whales | No Comments »

A fantastic trip comes to a close but only after seeing Giant Mantas, Hammerhead Sharks , Yellowfin Tuna, White and Silver Tip Sharks and Humpback Whales – Guest Blog – March 10/10

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

March 10, 2010.  Today is the last day of the cruise, we’re a little sad because it’s finished, but not too much as it was fantastic : Giant Mantas, Hammerhead Sharks , Yellowfin Tuna, White and Silver Tip Sharks, Humpback Whales (on surface, only). That’s for the fishes, I haven’t mentioned the crew, very efficient and discreet and a special thought for the cook as we French’s can be choosy. Big kisses to Ashley, and Kate, that we all of the french’s men want to marry, even the already married …To be renewed, without a doubt, in Soccoro’s, or somewhere else in Pacific. To be precise : this was written after aperitifs. French predators are not French doctors.

Pour les femmes, Catou rale, ses hormones sont a plat. Ici, de jolies filles vous apportent a boire sur un plateau, mais on a plus de mal a faire faire de meme aux garcons.

Dave: I have never seen Manta.  A year ago I started writing a bucket list and have a few dreams to check off.  One of these was to swim with Giant Manta .  I pictured this happening pehaps seeing a Giant Manta in passing on a dive somewhere.  Never did I dare dream that i would have a Manta play with me an d seek out my attention for 40 minutes, an entire dive.  The Boiler at San Benedicto really made the trip for me.  Incredible visibility and an experience of interacting with Manta Rays that I will be talking about for the rest if my life.

Peter:  please can I come back on the Nautilus Explorer.  Is there a last minute call list i can get on for last minute cancellations.  I took about 4000 photos this week.  I need 4000 more.  There is so much variety here.  And I just can’t get enough of the Manta Rays.  Also I need a close up of a Hammerhead Shark.  I got one from 20 feet away.  Now I need one 10 feet away.  Or 5 feet!  At San Bendicto’s Canyon it could be done.

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Posted in Animals, Destinations, Giant Mantas, Guest Blog, Hammerhead shark, Humpback Whale, Nautilus Explorer, San Benedicto, Socorro Island, The Boiler, Tuna, silvertip reef shark | No Comments »

Stranded tanker Sichem Osprey refloated after grounding on remote Clipperton Atoll. The French navy reports that the vessel was towed off the barrier reef after lightering soyabean oil, tallow and xylene onto a second tanker. The hull was intact and the 2009-built ship was able to continue on to Mexico without any environmental damage. March 9, 2010.

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

PHEWWWWWW!!!   We have been feeling sick about this ever since the Sichem Osprey grounded on our favourite atoll on February 10th..  We were especially nervous when the tsumani went through.   Hard to believe that the Eitzen product tanker managed by Glasgow-based V.Ships Shipmanagement  ran onto the island at full speed and I can only speculate on what must have been going on (or not going on to be more accurate) in the wheelhouse.      The double hulled, 25,431 dwt tanker is under Maltese flag with a crew of 19 and was heading from Panama to South Korea when the grounding occurred.

We could all too easily imagine the horrendous impact of 10,000 tons of xylene or soyabean oil on the 5,000,000 land crabs and 500,000 booby birds on the atoll,  the green moray eels that are free-swimming EVERYWHERE you look  (and even coming out of the water to chase the terrestrial land crabs!!!  yes, I saw that with my own eyes 2 years ago!!), the endemic Clipperton angel fish on the outer reef and the Canadian geese bobbing around on the inner lagoon.    It has been a frightening time and we are extremely grateful and happy about the good outcome.

Kudos and job very well done to the government of France, the French Polynesian authorities who administer the island and the salvors working under the supervision of Svitzer Salvange.   Stay tuned for reports from our next Clipperton expedition.   Captain Mike

Guest log –>>   Roca Partida, Socorro Island.  March 8, 2010.  Rough seas but great diving conditions with water temps 76 degrees

Saw four nice hammerhead sharks at Roca Partida today, a little bigger than the fish in Kentucky! Getting back into the boat was like an amusement ride. Very exciting!
David

Although it was a bit like a washing machine at the surface, the depths were calm, clear and full of splendid animals! Had four great dives today, and we’re looking forward to four more tomorrow. Here’s to the continued hope of humpback whales!
Karen

Premiere journee a Roca partida, ce petit caillou perdu au beau milieu de nulle part…
Apres une premiere plongee pour apprivoiser le lieu, ce fut un veritable festival.
Jojo le merou (3m selon certains…) viendra vous accueillir a 30m sur la face ouest du rocher au milieu d enormes bancs de poissons en tout genre….
La pointe nord, quant a elle, est gavee de pointes blanches sur 15m et il vous faudra aller titiller les 40m pour trouver les marteaux…superbes rencontres!
La face Est sert plutot de dortoir a requins avec ses nombreuses etageres..
Bref un veritable festival…vivement demain qu on remette ca…
A visiter egalement : orgie entre murene et pointes blanches, une honte!!!! Pour la troisieme plongee, a voir la sieste des requins, sieste crapuleuse a 10 requins colles les uns contre les autres, surveilles par une grosse loche, qui nous suivait pour verifier si on ne les derangeait pas.


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Posted in Animals, Destinations, Guest Blog, Hammerhead shark, Humpback Whale, Roca Partida, Socorro Island | No Comments »

Diving at Rocal Partida with a Tsunami warning – what it was like. Divemaster Log for 27 – 28 February, 2010.

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

Location: Roca Partida, Socorro island, Baja California, Mexico

Approaching Roca Partida in the morning we got a Tsunami warning via our Inmarsat communicating a earth quake outside of the coast of Chile on a scale of 8.8
We got the information that it would arrive around 1045 AM at our site.  We are in this time very thankful of Nautilus Explorer’s well equipped communication possibilities. At this time we could as well warn a neighbouring dive vessel that did not have it and assist them getting out of problems. So they stopped their operation and got out on deep water.

We decided to stay  2 Nautical miles from Roca Partida at 10000 ft of water and wait it out while we waited for more information from our head office. We could not be in a safer spot and everybody was calm.  What we where worried about would not be a big waves but a stronger current and better to be safe the sorry as they say.  Well after a bit of drama in the morning we approach the rock and started diving. The visibility was actually poor for Roca Partida , but the action was there! Lots of sharks!! And the second day was even better. Big schools of hammerhead sharks. A bit deeper down big Galapagos sharks. And cruising silvertip sharks.

Some of our scuba divers came up shouting of happiness after been diving with a humpback whale a mother and Calf and had also film of it.   The humpback whales came very close to us when we were out in the zodiac inflatables and we heard them singing the whale song on almost all dives. It is the male Humpback whale that stayes on his head and sing.

The last dive was probably the best one , the water got clear and we had so many sharks mostly hammerheads and we saw them over and over again. Last was a group of maybe a houndred. Nice ending!  Divemaster Sten

Surface conditions: 3-5 ft swell , sunny and 30 C , very nice and calm

Underwater conditions: viz not so good, about 50 ft when better up to 90ft. slow easy current very little surge.

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Posted in Animals, Baja California, Captains Log, Destinations, Galapagos Shark, Hammerhead shark, Humpback Whale, Roca Partida, Socorro Island, hammerhead, shark, silvertip reef shark | No Comments »

14 gold medals for Canada!! Plus chance of a lifetime diving with a humpback whale and calf 2 metres away in over 100 feet of water. Guest log. 28 Feb 2010

Sunday, February 28th, 2010

The last dive of our Socorro  trip was spectacular: a summary of what we have seen on the trip so far. At 30m a school of hammerhead sharks was waiting for us and on the way down two large silvertip sharks were following us accompanied by rainbow runners. At the same time two silky sharks were patrolling the surface. Finally even a huge giant Manta ray  came to say goodbye before we ran into two huge Galapagos sharks. Altogether it has been a fantastic week of diving with an incredible last dive! For sure this has not been my last trip on the Nautilus Explorer! Jan from Heidelberg, Germany.

Thierry: Nous avons passe les deux derniers jours a “Roca partida”, un tout petit rocher remontant d’un plateau continental situe entre 300 et 80 m de profondeur et surplombant l’ocean a 40 m, totalement isole du reste du monde, la terre la plus proche se trouvant a 320 miles (+500 km). C’est donc un endroit privilegie pour la vie sous-marine et nous n’avons pas ete decu. Nous y avons trouve a chaque plongee des groupes entiers de requins pointes blanches que je n’ai pas pu m’empecher de caresser, des requins marteau de belle taille (environ 2 m), des requins galapagos et des requins gris de taille comparable… Et meme un merou de la taille d’un plongeur dont on se demande bien comment il est arrive ici !! Les baleines n’etait pas loin de nous, et 3 de notre groupe ont meme pu les apercevoir pendant la plongee. Je suis alle a la “chasse a la baleine” entre les plongees avec les zodiacs, mais nous n’avons vu que leurs queues disparaitre sous la surface au moment ou nous etion
s dans l’eau juste a cote d’elle. Nous sommes maintenant en route pour Cabo San Lucas et 28 h de navigation !

Renaud, Marseille, France

This last 2 days have been amazing. Diving with no bottom, on this island in the middle on nowhere is an experience. Sharks by tens on every dive at every depth…I really enjoyed the white tips “nests”; pack of 20-25 sharks on top of each others sleeping and starting to turn around us every now and then.  This morning for our last day we had a real surprise. We were going down the north edge with Peter and Thomas. At 30 m, 2 min into the dive we saw 2 big white things below us. We thought that it was a manta ray and went down, to our surprise it was a humpback whale and her calf…GREAT, a chance in a million. Pete taped 1 min video while they were both turning 2 meters away from us. The mother whale was at least 12 meter long and we swam few seconds together, then they disapeared as quickly as they appeared… We were now on 40 meters, ppO2 of 1.6, it was time to come up a bit. The rest of the dive was eventless ; white tips, hammerhead sharks… The usual suspects in Socorro liveaboard :-) ).

For my next trip, if you know a place where I can swim with an animal bigger than a humpback wale, let me know and I may join !

Michael, Ludwigshafen, Germany

Entschuldigt, dass der Rapport erst so spaet erfolgt, aber die Tauchgaenge haben mich derart begeistert und gefordert, dass ich an das Schreiben keinen Gedanken mehr verschwenden konnte. Der Grund hier her zu kommen, war das Tauchen mit Mantas. Meine Erwartungen und die Beschreibungen im Internet wurden exorbitant uebertroffen. Ich bin wirklich nicht als grosser Taenzer bekannt, aber unter Wasser mit den Mantas habe ich so manchen Tango und Walzer hinlegen “muessen”. Die Interaktion mit diesen Tieren ist unbeschreiblich. Selbst Bilder koennen dies nur schwer beschreiben, obwohl zum Beweis mehrere hundert Fotos geschossen wurden. Gott sei Dank gibt es auch die Moeglichkeit des Videobeweises. Von dem einzigartigen Erlebnis mit den Mantas abgesehen war das taegliche Zusammentreffen mit Hammerhaien, Galapagoshaien, Seidenhaien, Silberspitzenhaien und den Rudeln von Weissspitzenriffhaien unvermeidlich! Bilder/Videos sagen mehr als tausend Worte / wer sie sehen moechte, einfach anfragen!peters@intertrans.de

Susanne, Schifferschadt, Germany

Mir wurde vom Arzt leider 2 Wochen vor dem Trip untersagt zu Tauchen, dennoch bin ich mitgefahren. Hiermit moechte ich mich bei der gesamten Crew bedanken! Ich wurde zum Schnorcheln gefahren, die “Maedels” haben sich excellent um mich gekuemmert und der gesamt Aufenthalt auf der Nautilus Explorer war – auch wenn ich nicht tauchen durfte – ein voller Erfolg. Danke an alle, die dies ermoeglicht haben!

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Posted in Animals, Galapagos Shark, Giant Mantas, Guest Blog, Hammerhead shark, Humpback Whale, Nautilus Explorer, Silky Sharks, Socorro, shark, whitetip reef shark | No Comments »

We activated our tsunami action plan this morning after the earthquake in Chile. The ship halted dive operations and stayed in deep water > 200 metres until the tsunami passed through the area per the recommendation of NOAA. No discernible tsunami effect was felt or detected on the Nautilus Explorer and we have recommenced normal diving operations.. Interesting times. Guest blog following. 27 FEB 2010.

Saturday, February 27th, 2010

Before this trip, I have only seen giant manta from the distance and very shy. Now I know that they like to play, seem to be ticklish from our air bubbles and enjoy our company. You feel like being their entertainment, not the other way round. In africa you go on a safari and watch the “big five”. At Socorro and San Benedicto Island, the big five are the whales, giant mantas, hammerhead sharks, silkies and dolphins and  we keep seeing them all. Great trip.
Thomas

Close encounter with the hammerhead scouts, turning everywhere around us, almost in touching distance and than ten minutes later – THE WALL!!! Loads of Hammers passing by in the blue! Later on at the the Boiler: Dancing with Mantas to the sound of humpback songs… An average day at the Revillagigedos ;-)
Lachsi, Silki, Maski (Los tres uoevos suizos)

Jan: Flooding your camera is not that bad if you do it in front of 50 hammerheads!!

Thierry: Ce matin, nous sommes alles nous reveiller “au milieu” des marteaux. Une bonne dizaine de ces grands animaux sont venus vraiment au raz de l’a-pic sur lequel nous attendions gentiment ! La 3eme plongee de la journee nous conduit une fois encore a nager avec les raies mantas. 3 puis 5 sont venus nous rendre visite et bien que timides, elles se sont tout de meme laissees caresser… La derniere plongee de la journee a eu lieu dans le jacuzzi pour ma part.
C’etait une journee riche en rencontres sous-marines, dommage que les baleines soient restees juste en dehors de notre portee. Elles n’ont fait que sauter autour du bateau et ont chante pendant notre 3eme plongee , de meme pour les dauphins, qui sont venus jouer a l’arriere du bateau quand nous mangions. Pour couronner le tout, nombre d’appareils photos ont ete noyes, y compris le mien… Il faudra compter sur les photos des appareils qui auront survecus au voyage !!

Melpi Evangelia Piyi(Greece)
Day 2: For the first dive we went down to the ‘cleaning station’ and we came across a group of at least 10 white tip sharks, hanging out in the sand and all over the place! The reefs around were full of nice colorful fish and a pair of black mantas swimming above our heads. In the evening we saw the green light of the sunset meaning good luck for the rest of our trip :) What more can we ask for ?
Renaud Vincentelli, Marseille,
Plongee 6
A peine au fond, nous retrouvons un groupe de 10 requins pointes blanches en train de tourner. Pendant que nous les regardons se rapprocher de nous, une raie manta arrive. Elle est bientot rejointe par une deuxieme. Elles passent entre nous tranquillement, la plus grande fait 5 metres. Je me retourne, les mains ecartees posees sur le ventre d’une manta je nage a l’envers qqes secondes. A travers la peau je sents le coeur qui bat, sensation incroyable, probablement le meilleur souvenir de ce debut de croisiere avec la rencontre avec les requins marteaux. Ces requins sont plus gros et bien plus impressionnants que les autres rencontres jusqu’ici.

Vivement demain !

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Posted in Animals, Destinations, Giant Mantas, Hammerhead shark, Humpback Whale, San Benedicto, Silky Sharks, Socorro, The Boiler, dolphin, hammerhead, whales | 2 Comments »

A small humpback whale kept jumping out of the water and everyone was cheering.. It was really fun. February 24, 2010. Guest log.

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

The San Benedicto Island Experience: Circling mantas (harassing Mike, meditating with Christophe), turtle nibbling on Christophs fin, hammerhead sharks on a cleaning break, patrolling silkies, silky tete-a-tete out in the blue with Christoph, underwater soundtrack featuring the humpback symphony orchestra of San Benedicto island – and on the surface: snorkeling with the (humpback) family… Do not come over the calf or you will freak out the mother, Christophe!
Maski, Silky, Lachsi

Evangelia: Upon arrival to San Benedicto Island we saw from the boat many humpback whales coming up to the surface and swimming around, then a giant manta passed right under us and then 5-6 dolphins were swimming and jumping out of the water, making the 24 hour trip already sooooo worth it!!! A small whale kept jumping out of the water and everyone was cheering, it was really fun! The dives were also very cool: on the second dive we saw the friendliest manta and it was playing around with everyone, swimming with us doing circles, many of the divers were touching it and tickling it and it really seemed like it was having fun! It was like a puppy playing with us, very funny and cute. But at the same time it was so graceful and beautiful the way it was swimming it was great :) And on the third dive we saw a big silky shark swimming right past us, ignoring us completely (thankfully :) ) and another silver tip shark. They were really beautiful. We also saw a couple of mantas passing below us and many moray eels, one of them was swimming and was quite big! over all it was a great day :D

No humpback whales sightings in the water yet though we could hear them singing very loudly during all the dives, maybe tomorrow! Talk to you again in a couple of days. Filakia.

Thierry: Apres 24 h de navigation dans un ocean calme mais qui faisait tout de meme bouger le bateau d’un bord a l’autre ;-) , nous avons atteint l’ile de San Benedicto ce matin vers 10 h a 240 miles (450 km) au sud de Cabo San Lucas. A 11 h notre premiere plongee nous faisait rencontrer une 15aine de requins marteaux et une raie manta. Pour la seconde plongee, nous avons ete accompagnes par la raie manta pendant toute la duree de la plongee. Bien sur les 2 Frenchies (Renaud et Moi) n’avons pas pu nous retenir de la caresser a chacun de ses passages au ras de nos tetes, j’ai meme un peu plane sur elle. Enfin la 3eme plongee de la journee fut plus calme, puisque nous n’avons rencontre qu’un requin marteau et un requin pointe grise. Cela dit nous etions berces pendant la plongee par le chant des baleines. Depuis notre arrivee ce matin, elles sont tout autour de nous. Elles sautent joyeusement autour du bateau et viennent ensuite se promener le long du bateau. D’ailleurs 3 perso
nnes ont meme eu la chance d’aller nager avec elles. Dommage que je doive proteger encore un peu mes oreilles car j’y serais bien alle aussi, ce sera pour la prochaine fois ;-)
Bref le voyage commence sous de bons hospices. Le bateau est vraiment agreable, l’equipage, excellent, est toujours a nos petits soins aussi bien pendant les plongees qu’entre elles. Nous avons meme un jaccuzi a disposition. La meteo est parfaite pour l’instant, et devrait le rester pendant la semaine ce qui nous permettra de rester 4 jours ici, puis d’aller passer les 2 derniers jours encore plus loin sur le site de Rocca Partida. La suite dans 2 jours, lors de la prochaine connexion satellite….

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Posted in Animals, Destinations, Giant Mantas, Guest Blog, Hammerhead shark, Humpback Whale, San Benedicto, Silky Sharks, dolphin, silvertip reef shark, turtles | No Comments »

The diver started kicking like a dolphin and got the 5 dolphins around him so excited they started spinning around him like a top – Guest and Captain Log – 20 FEB 2010

Sunday, February 21st, 2010

Today the guests and crew of the Nautilus Explorer are nearing the end of an 8 day adventure trip to Socorro Island.  Well, San Benedicto Island and Roca Partida to be more accurate. Later tonight we will arrive back at Cabo San Lucas.  This his has been an adventure for our guests, and for myself as well.  I have spent many years working on small cargo vessels, tugs, fishing boats and an expedition passenger vessel on the British Columbia coast. Spending as much time as I have on the water, it’s not hard to start thinking that you have seen it all, at least in terms of sea life. Whales, porpoises, orca, sea lions are almost an every day occurrence around Vancouver Island but here, it is different. Yesterday we were at Roca Partida. I was standing by in the skiff while the scuba  divers were down. Looking down into the clear water, I was amazed at the amount of reef fish I could see. It was as if there was a layer of them. All shapes and colours. I heard a splash, and looked up to see a group of bottlenose dolphins charging toward me and passing close by the side of the skiff. At the same moment, a pair of humpback whales came out of the water and landed on their backs a few hundred yards from me. Taking all this in, I was thinking, “This is what I am seeing up here. I wonder what they are seeing down below”. I didn’t have to wait long for the answer. As one of our guests (a lady from Germany) came up the ladder at the back of the skiff, she pulled off her mask and yelled” the whales are singing”. Over all, it has been a trip with regular sightings of Giant Mantas (up to 4 at the once) Hammerhead sharks, (sometimes a school of them) and all sorts of other creatures. For me the greatest pleasure is to see that kind of excitement in someone’s face after a dive.   Captain Ted.

What a week we have had! Dancing Mantas, Singing Whales, Hunting Tunas, Playful Dolphins, and sharks so close you could nearly reach out and touch them. At San Benedicto, we dove our usual dive sites, The Canyon and The Boiler, and we also did a couple of exploratory dives: one along the cliffs and one on the northern point of the island. These dives, although interesting proved that The Canyon is where the action is happening right now; multiple friendly Mantas, large schools of Hammerheads, Humpbacks singing so close that your body vibrates and you just know that they have to be right there… about to materialize in front of you.   Roca Partida is full of life. Nearly every dive, we had the playful Bottlenose Dolphins coming in to zoom around the divers and blow bubbles at them. One diver, kicking like a dolphin himself, got the dolphins so excited; all five dolphins started spinning around him like a top. This week we had mantas too! At least three different mantas were seen during out stay at Roca Partida. There were a couple of different tuna schools circling the rock, a school of hundreds of smaller tuna and another school of giants. These big fish are strong and powerful. It is a treat to see their quickness and grace as they send the schools of smaller fish fleeing as they hunt. Several different species of sharks were sighted on every dive: sleepy White Tip Reef Sharks, Schooling Scalloped Hammerheads, well-fed Galapagos Sharks, Daring Dusky Sharks, Sleek Silky Sharks, and Graceful Silvertip Sharks.   Towards the end of the day, with light levels were starting to fade, just off the southern cleaning station, a Giant Manta was coming in to be cleaned. A curious Silky shark had been hanging around as well. In a quick flash, the Silky Shark made a dash for the top of the manta, trying to bite off one of the Remora that was peacefully riding there. With a quick flip of her wings, the manta rolled her body up and out of the shark’s way. Just then, a Bottlenose Dolphin came in to aid the manta and began chasing the Silky Shark. The three circled for a moment, and then the shark retreated into the blue. The manta went back to the cleaning station and peace was restored once again. When the divers surfaced, they could not believe what had just happened. Every dive has been unique special.

Surface Conditions: Wind- Slightly Breezy, Sky- Clear to Partly Cloudy, Swell- Mild.

Underwater Conditions: Visibility- 40-100’, Temperature- 74-75 F, Current Slight to non-existant.

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Posted in Animals, Cabo San Lucas, Captains Log, Destinations, Galapagos Shark, Giant Mantas, Hammerhead shark, Humpback Whale, Nautilus Explorer, Orca, Roca Partida, San Benedicto, Silky Sharks, The Boiler, The Canyon, bottlenose dolphin, sealions, shark, whales, whitetip reef shark | No Comments »

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