Just wrapping up dive day 2 back at Isla Guadalupe. We had a stellar previous trip and so far this trip is shaping up to be a continuation of the last. The weather here in the anchorage has been flat calm today with a beautiful glassy surface leading up to the sheer rock face on the north east side of the island. Clear skies on top of that made it a picture perfect day topside!
Beneath the smooth surface of the sea the action was hot right from the word, “Go!”.
As the first submersible cage ride descended this morning at 0800, I counted 3 individual white sharks before we had reached our target depth, including the infamous Shredder. By the time I had finished my diving for the morning, I had counted at least 8 individual sharks in just over 2 hours of diving! At one point during one of my dives I could see 6 great white sharks surrounding us, all well within 80 ft of the cage. At the forefront of these 6 was a big female, around 17 ft and so big around she looked like she could be pregnant. To add to the surreality of the diving this morning, as if the sheer number of sharks wasn’t enough, we had one of those rare mornings where a huge school of polarized mackerel appeared from the depths of the blue to gather under the hull of the Nautilus Explorer. The school numbered in the thousands I’m sure, and it’s really a spectacular view to see the giant white sharks as they glide through the fish, with the schools parting in perfect unison to form a wide hole for the shark to pass through before closing up again behind the shark. With 6 white sharks cutting randomly through the schooling mackerel the view was incredible. With a beautiful blue background of clear ocean water the scene was complete!
The rest of the day featured more of the same. Lots of white sharks and plenty of action
on every dive. We have one more day of diving tomorrow before we wrap up this expedition and head into Ensenada to gear up for the next one!
– Captain Gordon Kipp
Surface Conditions: Winds light with calm seas in anchorage, sky clear all day today,
air temperature at night: 19C (66F), during the day: 24-27C (75-80F)
Diving conditions: Water temp 20C (68F), visibility 100 ft plus with occasional periods
of lower viz (60 ft)
I could see 6 great white sharks surrounding us, all within 80 feet of the cage. At the forefront was a big 17 foot long female. October, 2011 – Isla Guadalupe, Baja California, Mexico
