Posts Tagged ‘whales’
Thursday, July 22nd, 2010
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
Tags: Channel Islands, dolphins, Ensenada, mexico, mola mola, Nautilus Explorer, San clemente, san miguel island, tope shark, whales
Posted in Animals, Captains Log, Channel Islands, Destinations, Ensenada, Guadalupe Island, Nautilus Explorer, San Clemente Island, San Miguel, dolphin, mexico, mola mola, tope shark, whales, wolfeels | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 21st, 2009
The crew is so friendly that if you’re not diving they will take you out on a private skiff ride and show you lions mane jelly fish and sea stars and you can have your very own sea otter. Alisan
Today was an awesome day for non-divers – 3 skiff tours – otters, whales, sealions eating salmon with whales in the background, puffins, nesting comerants, jellyfish…AMAZING! Shannon
Bernard : depaysement total, images surprenantes, le froid n’etant pas aussi redoutable que redoute par un mediterraneen ! richesse des couleurs et des formes et, le top, rencontre avec des lions de mer, sans parler des baleines et loutres; une experience a ne manquer sous aucun pretexte !
Caroline: The dive today was beautiful and colourful; we saw everything today on the skiff today! I saw two Oyster Catcher birds which really stood out. Seeing three whales at thje same time tops the list though.
Anja: Nach drei Tauchgaengen in 8 Grad Celsius kaltem Wasser fuehle ich mich richtig wohl und kann diese unglaublich reichhaltige Unterwasserwelt in vollen Zuegen geniessen – Nautilus Explorer, danke dafuer.
Tags: salmon, sea otters, tufted puffins, whales
Posted in Animals, Destinations, Guest Blog, Inian Islands, cormorant, puffin, sea otters, whales | No Comments »
Saturday, May 30th, 2009
Kelly was so informative at the Bamfield Marine Biological Station and most appreciative of the fleece vest sent by the Nautilus Explorer as a thank-you for a great tour. It fit her like it was made for her. What a lovely way to wind up our stay in the Barkley Sound area. Barbara Ann
Beautiful scenery through the whole trip. Vis has been down but diving was great. Whales, bears, eagles, sea otters and loads of underwater life. West coast villages are quaint, rustic and easy living. The Nautilus has been home and all the crew couldn’t be any better.
Brought lots of summer weight clothes expecting low temperatures but am happily pushing forward with what I have. The weather has been very nice and beautiful and the changeover from morning with peasoup fog to an afternoon with 100 mile visibiilty is stunning and unbelievable. Dave.
Captain’s log stardate Bamfield. Usually to the company of a giant pacific octopus you should remove your mitt to see if the octo is interested in interacting. But in Barkley Sound, some octopodes are so lonely and or lovestruck that if you put your arm down on a rock, they will suck off your glove for you. Take it right off. And take it off fast. This guy was sleeping close to the anchor and a relaxed colour of red. We showed up and he and he shot out, slid under the rock and came out the other side playing at being a different octopus and stone white in colour. He exhibited very unusual behaviour of standing straight up on his legs. Best of all, I have footage of the whole thing. Chad
Tags: Bamfield Marine Biological Station, bears, eagles, Octopus, sea otters, whales
Posted in Bamfield Marine Biological Station, Eagle, Guest Blog, Octopus, brown bear, sea otters, whales | No Comments »
Friday, May 9th, 2008
Location: Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico
Comments: Captain Mike here. We have been incredibly busy over the last 3 weeks with Part 1 of our 2008 shipyard refit. My apologies for not getting a Captain’s Log report out before this. The Nautilus Explorer was built in a Canadian shipyard to our custom specfications and launched in May 2000. The ship is under rigorous annual inspection requirements by Transport Canada as an ISM SOLAS Home Trade 1 passenger vessel and undergoes an even more detailed quadriennial inspection every 4 years. This year is our second quadriennial and we really went to town!! The Cummins distributor took apart the main engines and gensets. The seachest and all the associated engine room piping as well as the bilge suction lines and fire mains were taken apart with lots of on condition renewal (if it doesn’t look almost new, we replaced it!!) and many fittings replaced. The Nautilus is built to a standard that includes flanged bronze and steel non-return ball valves on all overside discharges including the exhaust system and these were all replaced. The exhaust and muffler systems were taken apart, renewed and pressure tested before refitting. The electrical system was megger tested (we do that every year). The exterior of the ship was sanded down from the keel all the way up to the top deck and then sprayed with 2 coats of epoxy primer and 2 topcoats. I think she looks pretty sharp!! The sewage system was renewed and is sparkly clean with every discharge and vent line having been inspected, roto-routed and blown out. Water tanks were opened up, inspected and touched up (we do that every year).. Props, shafts and rudders were all removed and overhauled. New bearings were installed in the stern tubes. The interior was renewed and freshened up and we made a whole series of little improvements here and there. It’s going to be tight being ready in time for tomorrow’s California Channel Islands charter but we’ll make it. After that it’s off to Vancouver for Part 2 of the refit prior to the start of our British Columbia and Alaska summer season. Who the heck wants to be on charter when it is so much fun in the shipyard!!! (that’s an attempt at humour on my part). Captain’s Log reports on the Channel Islands to follow…
Weather: Mostly sunny. Air temperature mid 70’s. Light winds.
Water: temp and visibility unknown.
Tags: Cabo San Lucas, diveboat, freediving, galapagos silvertip, giant manta, hammerheads, humpback, luxury liveaboard, mexico, Nautilus Explorer, reef dolphins, Revillagigedos, Roca Partida, San Benedicto, scuba diving, shark, silky, snorkelling, socorro island, tiger, whales, Whalesharks, whitetip
Posted in Baja California, Captains Log, Destinations, Ensenada, mexico | No Comments »
Sunday, April 13th, 2008
Location: Roca Partida, Socorro, Revillagigedos, Mexico
Comments: Once again Roca Partida proved why it is considered the crown jewel of the Socorro y Revillagigedos. There were some wind waves on top of the normal swell when we arrived but by the end of the first day all we had was a long easy swell and on the second day even that subsided significantly. Over the two days all of our divers were able to have closer and more intimate interactions with a couple of giant manta rays than anyone imagined.. Some divers saw a small school of 10 hammerheads and one lucky group of divers had terrific interaction with a dolphin who played for 5 minutes before taking off rapidly and leaping out of the water. The silvertip and galapagos sharks were off the north east end of the rock circling in and out of view. One of the galapago sharks looked like it is recovering from a nasty spear wound to the head. He has a large lump with a hole on the top right side of his head and a hole/scar on the bottom left side by his gills. The good news is that we saw him last trip as well and he seems to be recovering nicely.
Everyone had at least a couple of spectacular dives on Roca Partida and the current changed just enough during the day to keep the charismatic megafauna coming in and changing but not enough to create hazardous diving conditions. Our engineer, Bob, also had the great fortune of seeing a young humpback whale swim past him as he was doing his safety stop.
On the trip north we saw an intriguingly large number of sea lions sunning themselves with flippers in the air. Not sure why they were so far south and offshore, anyone got any answers?
So we say goodbye to Roca Partida, Socorro and the Revillagigedo for this season. Thank you for some wonderful diving, interesting times and raising our awareness of the environmental issues in the area. I, for one, am really looking forward to coming back for another season in the autumn. And thank you to all who came diving with us in this spectacular place. Without you we would not be here. Divemaster Tricia.
Weather: 88 degrees F, sunny, light breeze, low swell
Water: water temp 72 degrees F, visibility 100 feet
Tags: Cabo San Lucas, diveboat, freediving, galapagos silvertip, giant manta, hammerheads, humpback, luxury liveaboard, mexico, Nautilus Explorer, reef dolphins, Revillagigedos, Roca Partida, San Benedicto, scuba diving, shark, silky, snorkelling, socorro island, tiger, whales, Whalesharks, whitetip
Posted in Animals, Captains Log, Destinations, Giant Mantas, Hammerhead shark, Humpback Whale, Revillagigedos, Roca Partida, Socorro, dolphin, mexico, sealions, silvertip reef shark | No Comments »
Friday, April 11th, 2008
Location: Punta Tosca, Cabo Pearse, Socorro Island, Revillagigedos, Mexico
Comments: After checking in with the Mexican navy on Socorro Island, we headed over to Cabo Pearse for three dives and night snorkelling with the Silky Sharks. The visibility was 30-50 feet depending on which part of the dive you were at and the current was minimal. Unfortunately, the lack of current meant that there were not many large critters out there. Many guests were able to listen and enjoy hearing the humpback whales singing during the dives. We saw the Clarion Damselfish which is endemic to the Revillagigedo Archipelago but once again there was a sense of disappointment in the diving. That night, however, the Silkys were abundant and all who wished to were able to get in and snorkel with them until the mood changed and the sharks started hunting more earnestly, at which point everyone got out.
Punta Tosca on dive day 4 was also surprisingly quiet and the visibility was low so after 2 dives at the outer point we decided to move the Nautilus up a couple of bays and try a new site. A series of small rocks sticking out of the water with a sheer drop to 120 feet on one side and shallower bays on the other. It proved to be fascinating and several guests saw sea turtles and a “fly by” with a giant manta. Definitely a site that we will repeat but once again the “charismatic megafauna” was elusive. So now it was off to Roca Partida to see what was going on there.
Weather: 83 degrees F, sunny, breezy, swell
Water: 71 degrees F, visibility 30-50 feet
Tags: Cabo San Lucas, diveboat, freediving, galapagos silvertip, giant manta, hammerheads, humpback, luxury liveaboard, mexico, Nautilus Explorer, reef dolphins, Revillagigedos, Roca Partida, San Benedicto, scuba diving, shark, silky, snorkelling, socorro island, tiger, whales, Whalesharks, whitetip
Posted in Animals, Cabo Pearse, Captains Log, Destinations, Giant Mantas, Punta Tosca, Revillagigedos, Roca Partida, Silky Sharks, Socorro, mexico, shark | No Comments »
Wednesday, April 9th, 2008
Location: The Canyon, The Boiler, San Benedicto Island, Socorro, Revillagigedos, Mexico
Comments: Divemaster Tricia here. And so we set off on our last trip to Socorro and the Revillagigedos for this season. The seas on the crossing were a bit bigger than normal at 6 – 7 foot with a long wave period but the stabilized ride on a heavy steel boat like the Nautilus Explorer was quite comfortable. Hurricane season at Socorro does not start until mid-June and there is certainly demand for quite a few more trips this season, but Captain Mike wants to get the boat to the shipyard for 3 weeks before the start of our Alaska season and so this is our last charter of the season. Our first dive at the Canyon scuba diving site was the normal check out dive and play with weighting. We saw hammerhead sharks off the cleaning station and the omens seemed to be good. Unfortunately, although there is always a lot of life under the water, it turned out that the giant mantas and sharks or what I like to call “charismatic megafauna” were going to be fairly evasive this trip. We did the Giants Causeway (or Southwest Benedicto for Mike) as the third dive and saw two or possibly 4 mantas but they did not seem to want to interact with us.
Dive day 2 and we went to the Boiler for the first scuba dive. The dive was spectacular, 100+ feet of visibility, a pod of 6 dolphin and almost no current. However, the wind had picked up and the waves were getting large which made the return to the Nautilus Explorer difficult and potentially hazardous. As the wind was showing no signs of subsiding we reluctantly had to leave and headed over to the north east side of San Benedicto Island to a dive site that we had tried a couple of times this year and had fairly good luck with. The area also has a shallow bay which meant that we could do a nice, calm, easy dive for our second dive and recover from the boiling Boiler. Dives 3 and 4 were good, although the current started to pick up and the visibility drop on dive 4. A giant manta was seen by most divers as it circled around but, again, did not seem to want to interact. Such is the nature of diving with big animals – interaction is always their call.
Weather: 80 degrees F, partly cloudy, breezy, swell
Water: 71degrees F, visibility 50 feet
Tags: Cabo San Lucas, diveboat, freediving, galapagos silvertip, giant manta, hammerheads, humpback, luxury liveaboard, mexico, Nautilus Explorer, reef dolphins, Revillagigedos, Roca Partida, San Benedicto, scuba diving, shark, silky, snorkelling, socorro island, tiger, whales, Whalesharks, whitetip
Posted in Animals, Captains Log, Destinations, Giant Mantas, Hammerhead shark, Revillagigedos, San Benedicto, Socorro, The Boiler, The Canyon, mexico, shark | No Comments »
Sunday, March 23rd, 2008
Location: The Canyon and The Boiler, Isla San Benedicto, Socorro, Revillagigedos, Mexico
Comments: We arrived in the early morning at the Canyon and had a wonderful dive with a small school of hammerheads at the cleaning station and dolphins on the way back to the boat. This was a first underwater encounter with dolphin for some. Then it was off to the Boiler to look for giant mantas. We had been in the water less than 15 minutes when three giant manta rays showed up to dance with the scuba divers and each other. They soared and swooped and looped around the divers creating a magical encounter and another first for many. We anchored so that we could swim to the dive site and with no current and very little waves we had an open deck for the day so guests were free to dive whenever they felt like. Between dives, a lot of guests chose to accompany Marco, our chief mate, on a tour of the shoreline to see the arches and pinnacles and whale watch. From the Nautilus we watched a young humpback whale leap multiple times out of the water followed by an adult humpback breaching creating some wonderful photographic opportunities.
As the last of the divers came out of the water our lovely hostesses, Emanuelle and Silvia, brought champagne mimosas around for all to enjoy as they sat in the hot tub, cleaned gear and watched the sunset over a calm ocean. What a change from our first day!!
The northbound crossing was smooth sailing allowing for more relaxation in the hot tub and reading on the sun deck. About three quarters of the way home we encountered a large school of common dolphin, over a hundred individuals leaping out of the water and so we took a slight detour to go and see them and watch them ride our bow wave.
This trip started out with a first for us, we have never had to turn return to port. The firsts continued with a first snorkel with humpbacks and a first underwater dolphin encounter and a first giant manta ray dance for some. Hopefully our guests will have many more firsts but next time we will leave the weather out of it! Divemaster Tricia.
Tags: Cabo San Lucas, diveboat, freediving, galapagos silvertip, giant manta, hammerheads, humpback, luxury liveaboard, mexico, Nautilus Explorer, reef dolphins, Revillagigedos, Roca Partida, San Benedicto, scuba diving, shark, silky, snorkelling, socorro island, tiger, whales, Whalesharks, whitetip
Posted in Animals, Captains Log, Destinations, Giant Mantas, Hammerhead shark, Humpback Whale, Revillagigedos, San Benedicto, The Boiler, The Canyon, dolphin, mexico | No Comments »
Thursday, March 20th, 2008
Location: Roca Partida, Socorro Island, Islas de Revillagigedo, Mexico
Comments: Roca Partida, the little rock in the middle of the big ocean. It is always interesting to be up at dawn as we arrive and guests see Roca Partida for the first time. My two favourite quotes are “I thought you were kidding” and “you have got to be crazy”. Roca Partida is a lava plug from a volcano and the top of the volcano is 250 feet below sea level. Around the volcano is 10,000 feet below sea level. The nearest island is Socorro 70 miles away. This creates an oceanic oasis providing food in what is otherwise a fairly desert-like environment. Which is why we dive there and once again Roca Partida lived up to its reputation. We saw Silvertip sharks, Galapagos sharks, Silky sharks, Hammerheads and White-tipped reef sharks. There was a school of jacks at between 60 and 80 feet that stayed off the north point for both the days that we were there.
The night of the full moon coincided with our night at Roca Partida which always makes for a spectacular evening on the “moon” deck especially when combined with the flat seas that we were experiencing. A good omen for the rest of the trip. Divemaster Tricia.
Weather: air temp 83F, sunny, light breeze, low swell
Water: water temp 71F, visibility 80 feet
Tags: Cabo San Lucas, diveboat, freediving, galapagos silvertip, giant manta, hammerheads, humpback, luxury liveaboard, mexico, Nautilus Explorer, reef dolphins, Revillagigedos, Roca Partida, San Benedicto, scuba diving, shark, silky, snorkelling, socorro island, tiger, whales, Whalesharks, whitetip
Posted in Captains Log, Destinations, Galapagos Shark, Hammerhead shark, Jacks, Revillagigedos, Roca Partida, Silky Sharks, Socorro, mexico, silvertip reef shark, whitetip reef shark | No Comments »
Saturday, March 15th, 2008
Location: The Canyon, San Benedicto Island, Socorro, Revillagigedos, Mexico
Comments: Divemaster Tricia at the typewriter for this trip. This trip was one of several firsts. We left at 1830 from San Jose del Cabo on 15 March. The ride was good until we got out past the lee of the peninsula. The wind then started to blow, the waves started to build and at 2230 Captain Mike made the difficult decision to turn around and return to port. The winter seas around Cabo San Lucas and Socorro Island are usually quite benign and this is the first time in 4 seasons that we have encountered seas rough enough to make us even consider turning around. It certainly has been a strange year for weather. Hmmmm. So while the storm blew over the Pacific and the Revillagigedo Archipelago our guests spent a very windy day (35 to 40 knots shoreside!!) exploring Cabo San Lucas on foot, going for boat tours in our skiffs and watching videos of our trips to Alaska and Guadalupe great white sharks with a margarita or mojito in hand.
March 17 arrived with a beautiful sunrise and the fishing boats that had been absent the day before were lined up to leave the harbour. Although the storm was still just ahead of us we left at noon and headed south for what turned out to be a pleasant crossing with the wind dropping the whole day allowing us to arrive at San Benedicto in time for two dives at the Canyon followed by a crab boil on the “moon deck”.
We started Dive day 2 by checking in at the Navy base and then picking up three underwater photographers from the World Wildlife Federation who had been waiting for us at Socorro Island during the storm (unable to dive).. From there we went to Cabo Pearce. Throughout all 3 dives at Cabo Pearce we could hear the humpback whales singing in the background. In between dives two and three several guests were out snorkeling when a humpback whale mom and calf happened along and checked out the snorkellers. The encounter was, of course, an incredible experience.
Weather: air temp 80F, partly cloudy, light winds, moderate swell
Water: water temp 71F, visibility 50 feet
Tags: Cabo San Lucas, diveboat, freediving, galapagos silvertip, giant manta, hammerheads, humpback, luxury liveaboard, mexico, Nautilus Explorer, reef dolphins, Revillagigedos, Roca Partida, San Benedicto, scuba diving, shark, silky, snorkelling, socorro island, tiger, whales, Whalesharks, whitetip
Posted in Cabo Pearse, Captains Log, Destinations, Great White Shark, Guadalupe Island, Humpback Whale, Revillagigedos, Socorro, The Canyon | No Comments »
