2015hrs: Anchored at the south end of Clipperton Atoll.
We arrived at the island this morning at first light. A small pod of bottlenose dolphins greeted us as we approached from the north. Unfortunately, we were also greeted by four commercial fishing vessels around various sides of the atoll. One of the downsides of an island that is teeming with sea life is of course that it is prime fishing grounds and nearly impossible to police.
Not to be deterred, we dropped anchor on the deep sandy bottom near the reef at the northeast end of the island and commenced our diving for the day. A shallow reef top of 6-15 metres leads to a gradual drop off and wall dropping down to about 40 metres where the reef ends and the sandy bottom begins. Shark life was evident almost immediately with several juvenile silver tips cruising around under the boat and checking out the divers. Green and fine-spotted morays roamed the reef bottom, free swimming and often following divers. One diver reported a large hammerhead shark, and I saw an adult silky shark cruising the blue as well. Lots of leather bass, moorish idols, butterfly fish, the endemic Clipperton Atoll angelfish, damsel fish, sergeant majors, blue and gold snapper, trevally jacks, black triggers, goldrim surgeonfish, among others completed the beautiful reef scene. The water temperature was a perfect 28C.
It was a very nice first day of diving. Weather today was variable, sunny periods with scattered rain showers and a temperature of around 32C. Now time for a cold beer and a bed!
–Captain Gordon
