After fighting some surge the day before, the waters cleared and we were greeted by a magnificent Chevron Manta on the way down. The sight was awe-inspiring. It was the first time I had seen such a huge marine animal, and it was so close under me, gracefully flying through the water. It was an […]
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Plunging into the water is always fun, especially when its 31 degrees celsius. We started easy with a mild current being dropped off just next to the dive site. We descended to about 60ft and were following the lava finger. We didn’t have to wait too long for our first encounter. A group of 14 […]
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Today was one of those diving days where you continually just ask yourself: does it get any better? We started our second day of diving waking up to beautifully calm conditions at Isla Socorro’s Cabo Pearce. We set out from the Nautilus Explorer in our skiffs and rolled in to beautiful blue water, great visibility, […]
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Mantas and dolphins and flounders OH my! Both Black & Chevron mantas and dolphins entertained us for the first 2 dives. The more bubbles the better for the mantas! The more twists/turns the better for the dolphins. Not sure what the flounders enjoyed the most. The 4th dive ended with a huge school of jacks […]
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This is our last day of diving on our combo trip. Great white shark cage diving at Guadalupe island, and Socorro island. It could not get better than today. Starting at the Canyon at San Benedicto, we got to the cleaning station at 80ft where we spotted a hammerhead shark! Then I decided to go […]
Read MoreThe magic of Socorro Island is that these resident mantas actually choose to approach divers on their own terms. We’ve always felt that there must be “something” in the water around Socorro, as a number of resident animals choose to approach and even initiate physical contact with divers. Not just the manta rays but dolphins, Lumpy our favourite leather bass, and even some of the Socorro lobster.
Read MoreInterestingly, one group of divers reported observing behaviour that reminded me very much of the great white sharks of Guadalupe Island. Last season we would see 2 white sharks swim side-by-side as if they were measuring their respective lengths against each other. The smaller animal would then peel off into the blue. The larger animal presumably being the dominant animal. I “think” we saw the same thing with 2 giant manta rays. 2 animals (a chevron manta and a larger black manta) swam in tight formation in a vertical pattern. The smaller chevron then peeled off and disappeared into the blue. Presumably, just like the white sharks, the large black manta ray established it’s dominance and got to hang out with a human.
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