Baby dolphins!!!! not more than a week or two old. how cute!!!!! Socorro Island. captain's log May 26, 2011

A beautiful day of diving here at Isla San Benedicto, the first day of a 10 day expedition including the Giant Mantas of Socorro and the playful sealions of the Sea of Cortez.
A westerly swell early on caused some moderate rolling but improved as we moved further south making for a pleasant overnight transit. The 220 nautical mile journey took us 24 hrs and on our final approach we were joined by a small pod of bottlenose dolphins who came out to say hello and play a little in our bow wake. I noticed several very small baby dolphins escorted by their mothers who couldn’t have been more than a week or two old, beautiful animals!

We completed three dives today here at San Benedicto, the first being at the south end of the island at ‘The Canyon’. Conditions were nice for the check-out dive, with little to no current. Visibility was a little low at around 15 metres and water temp 24C (75F). Several divers enjoyed a school of scalloped hammerheads cruising by as well as a lone Giant Manta swimming by. After lunch we headed around the corner to the north end of the island where we spent the afternoon diving at the ever-popular ‘Boiler’. One of our best dive sites for Giant Manta interaction, today did not disappoint! We had up to 4 Giant Pacific Mantas playing with us today and vying for some human attention.

They found it and all our divers enjoyed some quality manta-lovin’ as they cruised around us an arms length away, making lots of eye contact and enjoying the belly-bubble massage! Conditions at the Boiler were spectacular with a beautiful clear blue 30 metres (100 ft) of visibility and a slack current. Our season here is winding down with just over a month left before we head north to explore for the first time the untouched kelp forests of Isla Natividad in northern baja and then on to the Great White Sharks of Guadalupe.

We have added one extra Socorro expedition recently however so you still have a chance to join us in interacting with the magnificent Giant Mantas of Socorro! Our final trip of the season boarding June 22nd and running for 8 nights still has availability. For information please email info@nautilusexplorer.com. Tonight we are off to Roca Partida with fingers crossed for whaleshark encounters! (We’ve had several in the last couple weeks).
More updates to come tomorrow, stay tuned…

Captain Gordon Kipp
Surface conditions: Air temp 22-26C, winds light, sky mostly clear.
Diving conditions: Water temp 24C (75F), current mild, visibility 15-30 metres (50-100ft).