There is so much interesting information about our favourite great white sharks coming to light. The total white shark count at Guadalupe Island is now up to 147 individuals with 10 new animals identified in the 2014 season. These numbers are bloody impressive when you consider that we are talking about a single stretch of coastline on a remote island 150 miles from shore. An average of 4 individual sharks were identified every day between end of July and the middle of November with an average of 2.02 sharks per hour (I’m not sure what .02 of a white shark looks like – I’m assuming they would be quite small 🙂 Earliest sightings were at 0700 shortly after our cages our open for diving. With sightings continuing through the day until 6 pm (Captain Bryden tells me that he had a group of sharkies on the surface at dusk yesterday still nosing around the cages). I wish I had been there to see it. Peak sightings are between 1100 and 1200 accounting for 12% of the total sightings each day.
Following our more interesting factoids about our big white smiley friends;
- 80 – 90 animals appear to be the shark equivalent or “resident orcas” ie. they return to Guadalupe Island every every season (the same way resident orcas return to Vancouver Island every year)
- Great whites have been sighted throughout the Sea of Cortes. top to bottom. north to south. East and west side. I HATE HATE HATE when I see pic’s of great whites caught by fishermen in the Sea of Cortes which seems to happen once or twice a year.
- Scientists believe that there might be a white shark nursery at Bahia de Vizcaino (pacific side of Baja California aprox 200 miles from Guadalupe Island).
- Great white sharks are Guadalupe typically spend their time from the surface to 150 feet during the day. And between 200 – 200 feet at night.
- The white sharks observed in July and August are almost entirely male animals. In September, males account for 70% of sightings. 65% of sightings in October. And only 40% of sightings in November.
*** Sharking has been exceptional right from Day 1 of our 2015 season with up to 7 great whites around our cages at one time.. It’s so nice to be back at sea after the hard slog through refit. We had some laughs for sure during refit but everyone worked super hard and we got an awful lot done.
Here is the Nautilus Explorer with a fresh paint job top to bottom including the dive deck and top deck.
We did a lot of work on the Explorer including remodelling large parts of the interior, new airconditioning, new fire main and bilge piping, complete disassembly and overhaul of one main engine and one of the generators. New bathrooms. New ceiling. Plus all the regular annual shipyard servicing..
We also started a new tradition of REFIT BEARDS this year!! I have to admit to cheating a wee bit given that I started refit with a full beard already in place. A number of our female crew offered to join in by not shaving their legs. The guys voted against this!
Apologies to both Captain Gordon and Ricardo, our base manager for Ensenada and Cabo San Lucas. I was too late in taking their pic’s and only managed to get them “clean shaven”.
Safe diving everyone.
Come and see some sharkes with us!!
Captain Mike
