Location: Between Sweet Spot and Monkey Face, East Guadalupe Island
Status: Hazy sun breaking through the mist clouds
Weather: Air temp 74f Water Temp 70f Calm rippled seas Light Winds out of the SE
We had an action packed afternoon yesterday. We had Kenric, my personal favorite male shark, making close passes the entire afternoon by the submersible cages. Kenric is roughly 12 feet long and we had seen him all last season. He puts on a good show with his mellow inquisitive demeanor. He was coming in and out of the visibility, going between the two submersible cages and coming within a foot of each cage, then diving under and coming around to the other side rising up to the surface cages. Really nice to see him again at the beginning of this season. But that wasn’t all. We had some more feisty sharks including a large female vying for the baits at the surface. Our wranglers were really tasked with the number of attempts at the bait the sharks made. The big female lumbered past many of the small male sharks trying to engulf the tender morsel of tuna hanging just a few feet below the surface. Several times the male sharks were going for the bait and had to veer out of the way to allow the female to hulkingly swish her tail to launch at the bait. All the guests were hovering around the beautiful newly expanded dive platform of the Explorer. The guests roared with each pass of the shark at the baits. The wrangler and shark were like gladiators and the action seemed to heighten to each roar of the crowd. Sharks were rocketing out of the water with a full breach in an attempt to steal the bait. The wranglers pulled on the yellow rope attached to the bait screaming at the top of their lungs “SHARK!!!!” while the sharks beat their lower bodies faster to increase attack speed. Yet another thunderous roar came from the guests as the shark prevailed this time coming from the starboard side of the boat tracing past the submersible cages in the deep to ambush attack the weary wranglers bait. The calm surface waters part as snout and teeth emerge piercing the surface then the ominous black eye is seen rising out of the water. For a brief moment the sharks seem to pause mid breach then their entire body slams back to the water all at once creating a massive wave of water. I had the pleasure of taking a few young ladies from Nicaragua down in the submersible cages with their father. Mia and Sofia, who were just new to diving were able to witness the misunderstood shark in it’s own habit. The two young girls marveled at the site of the shark as it past by the cage countless times. Sofia had her camera attached to her wrist as she was clicking away taking photos of the sharks. After the dive both girls hopped out of the cage after the dive completely excited. Finally the four sharks dispersed and one by one the were gone but they left a lasting impression on all of our guests.
This morning it was like the sharks were waiting for us to come back again to test their might. Taunting us on the stern two sharks swam to and fro on the stern. Although we haven’t had as many sharks as we had yesterday the sharks have been sticking around the boat especially swimming past the surface cages. Most of our guests are opting to staying in the surface cages to get their last photos and videos of the sharks before we set sailing in the later afternoon.
It was such a great first trip to start the season. we were able to share the experience with people from all over the world. Nicaragua, England, Australia and the USA. More importantly the nautilus fleet was able to introduce to the young generation, a creature that has been looked upon as a mystery and demonized at times. We had children aged 5 to 12 this charter be able to witness first hand the incredible presence of the Great White shark and they now have a better understanding of this animal and there is hope that they will become ambassadors for this enigma of an animal. Thanks to all the parents that share this experience with their children and in turn, the future for the Great White shark will become more hopeful.
-Capt. Lowel
