Today we arrived at las Animas in the southern Sea of Cortez at sunrise. It was stunning to start a day like this. Soon we got the RHIB ready and loaded with dive gear to jump in the water around 7:30 am on the north pinnacle. Visibility was about 30 meters and the water is warm and blue. We were looking for the school of hammerheads around the rock, no sign of them, but we saw bonitas, jacks, huge sea turtles, and snappers. For our second dive we tried the east pinnacles … this time there was a light current coming from the south and we head in that direction at about 90 feet … and there they were! About a dozen adult hammerheads cruised along very calmly and everyone in the group got to see them!
On our third dive of the day, we visited the sea lion colony. We not only got to interact with California sea lions but there were also some Guadalupe fur seals. Our guests wanted some more sea lion interaction and while we were filling our tanks for the last dive of the day they went for a little snorkeling next to the sea lion colony. Was a lot of fun.
In the meantime, Sandra went for a kayak ride around the bay and Sara got in the hot tub to enjoy the sunset.
For our last dive on the south end of the island, we had another encounter with hammerhead sharks and during our safety stop, we enjoyed looking for tiny creatures as nudibranchs, barnacle blennies, Cortez rainbow wrasses, and so on! So much diversity in the water!
Later that night we had a fabulous meal on the top deck, our famous Taco night.
Now we are cruising to San Diego Island for a new adventure day tomorrow!
- Dive Master Juan David onboard Nautilus Gallant Lady
