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![A playful sea lion with beautiful eyes at Cedros Island]()
Guadalupe-Socorro Combo Trip Kicks off the Socorro Season
Read MoreWe had Great Whites in Guadalupe, lots of California Sea Lions on the way down south, now Giant Mantas and Silky sharks and dolphins…all in one trip, and the best still lays ahead.
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Taking a chance on an earlier than usual start to Guadalupe great white shark season pays off – dive guide log – August 4, 2010.
Read MoreCaptain Mike decided to take a chance and start our Guadalupe Island great white shark season earlier than usual this year. we had always heard the stories from local fishermen and scientists that the white sharks are present at Guadalupe at the end of July. Sure enough today is our 4th day with shark diving has been real good, It has been sharks from morning to evening, not too many individuals . Mostly there has been 4 males in size from 3.5 to 4 m long 10-12 ft. We spotted a small 7-8 footer that just swiftly passed by with no wish to stay with its bigger brothers. In total I counted 7 different individuals. It has been sunny , dead calm seas, great viz and we have been totally spoiled of sharks. divers are smiling , It is a dream to bee working in this kind of conditions! This morning we took a few trips with the skiffs to have a look at the Guadelupe furseasls and a few resting elephant seals as a change of all the sharks. We did not get to see the beaked whales close up , but they are out there, We spotted them…
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The great white sharks have returned to Guadalupe Island.. yahhhyyyyyy… diveguide and guest blog – August 1, 2010
Read MoreSo after finishing of 6 days diving in the Channel islands our trip has now reached Guadalupe Island. We arrived with grey weather but after a couple of hours the sun burned through and we had a beautiful sunny day and dead calm seas. It was a real treat. The first two hours we only had one sealion passing by, at a time thoughts where thinking are we to early in the season? Then finally at the surface a 3,5 m male came by and he was a frisky one! Quick turns , steep dives and ascents and just passing inches away from the bars of the cages. Eyeballing us. He continued staying with us until an other male a bit bigger and better fed took over and dominated the water around Nautilus Explorer. He was not getting in as close to us as the first one but was giving us a good show until light was out and we finished the day. Again we see the funny behaiviour with a young male Californian sealion playing with the white shark, at one moment it looked like the shark would have a chance but the sealion out manouvered him. Sun ,…
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Bring on Jaws!!! Captain's Log for Guadalupe Island great white sharks and guest comments on California Channel Islands – July 31, 2010
Read MoreThe sky is overcast, but the wind is light and the seas calm, making for a very comfortable and relaxing transit for our first white shark cage diving trip of the season to Guadalupe Island. Being in the water and up close to a white shark is one of my favorite things in the world to do, and as I sit here writing this I have a feeling in my stomach something like I used to get on Christmas eve when I was waiting for Santa Claus to come. Well, something like that anyway. I’m excited, a little anxious, and I can’t wait to open my presents. In this case my “present” being a 15 foot torpedo shaped mass of muscle and cartilage with a mouth extremely full of teeth. Not as scary as it sounds. In fact, not scary at all once you’ve experienced it. Awe-inspiring, humbling, enlightening, adrenaline-inducing, definitely all of those things. But I have never experienced anything resembling fear in my previous two seasons of cage diving at Guadalupe, and I have seen a lot of big sharks very close-up. For some people it’s not the fear of white sharks, but the idea that ‘cage diving’…
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The best technique to dive with giant sea bass and beautiful diving under the Eureka oil platform in the Channel Islands – divemaster log – 27 July 2010
Read MoreThis morning was grey in the California Channel Islands but later in to the day the sun burned through and made it nice and warm in the air. We are getting to one of our highlights on this trip the oil rig Eureka for the third time this season and this time we had good viz already at the surface , but even better viz 100 – 120 feet down at 100ft 30 m plus. There are so many photo oppotunities here that you could easily spend a whole day scuba diving , but it is a bit deep if you want the real clear water. It is funny to see the young pups sealions darting down in to the black abyss while we are clumpsy floating around at 100 -120 ft this vivid animals goes up and down like rockets. I still have the feeling to be in outer space on a space shuttle and enjoy watching the divers above and under me. or just dig in my head of one square foot area and watch all the life that is inhabiting the rig, and the colours that comes out using a light. After two dives we headed for…
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Diving Farnsworth Bank and Catalina Island – California Channel Islands – and then onward to great white sharks – July 25, 2010 – Captain and guest blog
Read MoreOur last California Channel Islands trip and our first Guadalupe white shark trip of this season were combined to form this 12 day expedition to explore the famous kelp forests off southern California and experience the rush of a close encounter with The apex predator of the oceans. Scheduled to begin this past Friday I was ‘asked’ by Captain Mike – who is very superstitious – to wait until just past the stroke of midnight before setting off from Ensenada, Baja California North, in order to avoid the bad fortune believed to befall vessels departing for sea on a Friday. I’m not a particularly superstitious person myself, however I complied and Mike was proven correct after our very comfortable and safe overnight passage to our first destination, the Islas Coronados. We arrived at the northern island in plenty of time to drop anchor and set up all our gear for the checkout dive in a beautiful, sheltered cove on the east side of the island. Sealions frolicked near the stern and we enjoyed two easy dives with almost no current and a gentle sea state. For our third and final dive of the day we headed to the south island where…
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Guadalupe white shark season starts soon – meanwhile giant black sea bass the size of a small car are enjoyed by all!! crew – guest blog – July 22, 2010
Read MoreAnacapa marine reserve, Channel Islands, California, USA Giant Black sea bass. We are getting very excited about our upcoming Guadalupe great white shark trip next week. First trip of the season. So after been over in a very windy but extremly rich San Miguel with tons of Abolon and even a wolf eel. We arrived in a calm sunny Anacapa. We got in to a kelp bed and watched Giant 200 pounder Black Sea Bass. Just enorm!! It does not work to rusch towards them , It is like being in the forest looking for an elephant or big game. Sneeking up on it behind the kelp and the rocks and trying to hold your breath. Really fun and really exiting to see this giants. Surface conditions: Temp 25 C sunny and calm until afternoon when weather picked up. Underwater conditions: 61-63 F around 16-17 Viz from 10 m 30-35 ft. No current. Dive guide Sten San Clemente , Channel islands , California USA Harbour seals and Mola Mola in dense kelp forest at San Clemente. This morning the vizibility was really good , water was blue and it was a real joy to get in to the water first…
