http://vimeo.com/43274768 It is an amazing privilege to be granted permission by the Republic of France to take our guests ashore at Clipperton Atoll – a true desert island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Hundreds of thousands of masked, brown, and red footed boobies litter the shores, with literally millions of bright orange land […]
Read MoreIn 2007 we embarked on our first great adventure steaming out to deserted Clipperton Island. Just over 2 miles in diameter, this sandy coral atoll surrounding a tropical lagoon is truly the stuff of legends dating back to the days of the manila galleons being preyed on by the english pirate John Clipperton who hid […]
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Shark life was evident almost immediately with several juvenile silver tips cruising around under the boat and checking out the divers. Green and fine-spotted morays roamed the reef bottom, free swimming and often following divers. One diver reported a large hammerhead shark, and I saw an adult silky shark cruising the blue as well. Lots of leather bass, moorish idols, butterfly fish, the endemic Clipperton Atoll angelfish, damsel fish, sergeant majors, blue and gold snapper, trevally jacks, black triggers, goldrim surgeonfish, among others completed the beautiful reef scene.
Read MoreWe awoke to a beautiful morning on the water today, the barest hint of a breeze and a long, slow, rolling swell out of the south. Currently north by west of Clipperton Atoll, approximately 3500m (11600ft) of water under the hull and it’s time for a swim. Main engines on the Nautilus Explorer are off, […]
Read MoreSchooling hammerhead sharks ho hum right?? Well not exactly. While we have been seeing a lot of hammerheads around Socorro and San Benedicto Islands, I always find it exciting to see these quiet shy critters. And I find the science behind their behaviour quite fascinating with great thanks to Dr. Peter Klimley at the University […]
Read MoreAlthough it’s a relatively rare occurrence, great white sharks have occasionally been sighted near the Hawaiian Islands throughout history (and even prehistory — teeth from white sharks have been found in artifacts from ancient islanders). The small number of sightings and lack of young sharks seen, however, suggests that there isn’t one group of […]
Read MoreToday participated in two dives at Socorro Island. The first was Cabo Pierce, and we went to 90 feet. Due to the current we all went down on a line to the anchor at 65 feet heading east we went to an area of rock formations to watch for sharks. Hammerhead sharks were seen in […]
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