The day on board Nautilus Explorer at Guadalupe Island was a little slow for our group of divers today. All were happy with their morning dives and took it easy in the afternoon. The hardcore divers like Alejandro from Argentina and Hans from China took advantage of the open spaces in the cages and made the best of it.
Our hostesses made sure there was always hot chocolate and fresh drinking water available on deck for our divers while the dive crew made sure there was a constant supply of clean towels. The wranglers had a tough time trying to outsmart the fast paced sharks who at one point seemed to have the upper hand.
At the end of the day the cages closed after sunset when the divers popped out due to lack of ambient light and everyone changed off and sat in the lounge eagerly waiting to participate in today’s Shark ID session hosted by DM Pedro. Everyone with photos available put them on display and identified all but one who we are hoping will show up tomorrow again for more photo opportunities. Happy divers talked about the day’s experience over their hearty dinner of steak and salmon but had their conversations cut short after Hans Yu put the rest of his photos on the big screen. Soon everyone had crowded the lounge with cheers and expressions of amazement as they stared in disbelief at the up close and personal frames Hans got with the unidentified male great white as it made close passes to the cage while trying to steal a free snack from the wranglers. Soon enough several of the divers had picked up the Shark ID book once again but to no avail; the male great white remained unidentified. Now as we all go to bed our hardcore divers are looking forward to the last day of cage diving at Guadalupe with the sole purpose of topping the bar set by Hans with his photos and landing that million dollar shot of a close encounter with one of nature’s most formidable predator.
– Divemaster Aldo, Belize
Photo by Hans Yu