Turtles and hammerheads

I just got out of the water and my blue mind is doing cartwheels of joy. As a Southern Californian, Mexico, especially Baja, is a quick spiritual and mental recalibration for me…a chance to get away from the chaos. You can read the whole story in the premiere issue of California Flow.

But let me tell you about today’s highlight: Turtles. Turtles are generally shy (from my experience) and tend to be seen off in the distance or swimming away from you. Today, I had the chance to see an old guy who has been around so long he was covered in barnacles…the things he must have seen. He was curious enough to approach for a closer look and I was fortunate enough to catch it on video. After all, I am sure you don’t get to be that old without gauging the danger factor and our group was definitely not a danger.

The Nautilus is very serious about safety and making sure the wildlife is treated with a respectful distance and drill in the restraint needed to ensure the wildlife feels safe – especially from overzealous photographers.

On the same dive, our divemaster, Dani spotted two turtles, which appeared to be a male and female engaged in courtship activities. I became THE overzealous photographer and was laser focused on getting the footage until I felt a tug on my fin. Because of that restraint the whole group had the opportunity to enjoy this wonderful exchange between turtles in the wild until we unfortunately had to do our safety stop.

Earlier this morning, the first group out had the good fortune of coming across a hammerhead nursery of about 30 juveniles. They dispersed after awhile but the group patiently stayed put and the scalloped hammerheads started to slowly reappear.
While that group was watching hammerheads, we were interacting and dancing with seals. The bulls, which tend to be very protective of their harems and children – like any good father should be. Trusted us enough to leave us be. Our divemaster, Manu, brought his disco moves to the underwater dancefloor and his partner, the juvenile seal, was following his lead to our delight.

I could ramble on but will save that for another time. Great personable crew – professional without being robotic.

Nice bonhomie aboard the Belle Amie.

P.S. The potato leek soup I had today would rival some of the restaurants in France. No joke!

Serry Sabety