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.
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
