Monkey Face East Guadalupe Island Over cast skies with warm and cold air mixing together. Air Temp – 76f Water Temp 73f Vis 80-100′ Wow, Wow, Wow…. It has been absolute mayhem since we have opened the cages this morning. We left the quiet Ensenada harbor just before the midnight the other night. We woke to a painted sky of blue, white and gray with the sun peering through the clouds during the mid day. The ocean had settled to give us barely a roll of the boat. Pulled to the mountainous east side of the island last night just before the sun had toppled over the mountain on it’s eternal plummet into the sea. Guests had a treat of the clouds rolling down the mountain and the sounds of the ever present seal lion calling out. The morning has brought a hope of fulfilling dreams as the guests prepare in early morning light. Wetsuits get wiggled into and the heart rate climbs. The few steps behind the top deck and the new dive platform are few but it is the last few steps for some who have come to live a dream. A dream of being in the presence of the elusive great white sharks. An animal that is so profound that just the thought brings thoughts of wonderment. Our wranglers are poised on their platform forms. The bait is secured and heaved into the blue waters at the stern of the vessel. Only a few more steps from the divers down the ladder of the cage to where where dreams come true. The first grey outline moves below the platform like a dynamic fighter jet. The most stream lined and adapted predator in the sea. With a strong constitution and fed by adrenaline, the wranglers tighten down their grasp on the wrangling lines awaiting the first rush of teeth that power through the water trying to ambush the bait. Two sharks show up quickly to our offerings. The commotion brings in a third then a fourth. The sharks swim circles around the surface cages. Coming right up to the front of the cage then dip down into the deep only to rise up again then trace past the submerisble cages. The biggest one has a green algae covered tag on it’s right dorsal fins. IT seems to be the dominant sharks. It is very curious of the divers in all cages coming within a foot of the cages stopping in front snout pointed at the divers then continuing on. It has been a morning that will not be long forgotten. Guests are really enjoying the sharking, & crew doing good.
-Capt. Lowel
Captains Noon Report – Explorer – 2018-08-14
