Roca Partida is one of the remotest and most exciting diving destinations in the world. For me, there are surprises in every corner, every dive at Roca.
And today was no exception. The four dives we had were unique and special. During the morning dives a whale shark surprised us. We felt he was a little bit disorientated. It was swimming between the groups of divers without a clear course. It seemed that he could not see us. At one point he started navigating towards the rock. When the whale shark realized that he was going to hit the rock he made a quick turn but it was too late, he hit the wall with the tail damaging the reef and the tail too. I have always thought that the scratches that whale sharks have on their fins and tails are from propellers but maybe sometimes boats are not the reason.
In the afternoon dives a friendly manta showed up for a while. We enjoyed the balconies of the east side of Roca that were full of white tips resting. I cannot wait for the next trip to see what surprises this site has in store for me.
An Unbelievable Diving Experience at the Boiler
The fun continues for me at the Boiler!
While the first two dives were very good, the third one literally took the cake. It was unbelievably exciting for all of us.
We drove the skiff to the right position and then boom, we were in the water! As soon we started to descend, we saw a few mantas playing around, touring in a circle, and coming closer and closer. At this point, the dive was already at the top, but the fun was not over yet. More mantas were coming to enjoy a wonderful dance, for a total of 5 Mantas together. They were there forever, playing with each other and with us – a real connection between humans and wild animals. It was the best way to end the Socorro season and say bye to these beautiful animals.
The rest of the week was no less incredible. Hammerheads, Galapagos, tunas, tiger sharks, dolphins, and whale sharks, all had come together in Roca Partida. Always superb Revillagigedo, it is one of my favorite places on the earth.
Size Does Not Matter – Incredible Encounter with a Tiny Whale Shark
We divers usually get excited by the size of the animals. The bigger the shark or the manta the more impressed we are. But this time it was the opposite. We ended up very surprised because we encountered a tiny whale shark.
We were at the north point of Roca Partida and I heard a shout! Yes, we can shout underwater. I turned and it was Bonny, a frequent guest. She was shouting with happiness and video shooting a whale shark only 2 meters long. It was tiny. He looked disorientated and curious about the bubbles. He had a totally different behavior than an adult whale shark and was swimming in circles around us.
Whale sharks when they are born are around 50 to 60 cm long and they grow around 50 cm per year so maybe this whale shark was around 3 years old. Whale sharks are ovoviviparous and they can have 300 embryos at the same time and not all at the same phase of fertilization.
Suddenly, 6 massive yellow-fin tunas started following the young whale shark. It seemed that the tunas wanted to check out the size of the whale shark by swimming parallel to it. For one moment it looked like they wanted to attack and eat him or on the other hand, they maybe wanted to get cleaned by the whale shark. Are those two interactions possible? This is what I love the most about diving in Revillagigedo. Ending the dive with all these questions that do not have answers. We are so lucky to watch marine life behaviors that very few divers can witness.
