It has always seemed to us that our best giant manta ray interactions tend to be on the second and third scuba dives. This has been reinforced by our experience here on the Boiler on this trip. Although we have been seeing giant mantas earlier in the day they do not seem to wish to stay around and play until about 11am, at which point they are happy to play with us until around 3:30pm. Luckily, this is also the best time for the photography as the light is at its best.
Read MoreAfter a couple of disappointing dives, I persuaded everyone to join me for an exploratory dive along the lava flows on the east side of San Benedicto. I have always wanted to check this area out as a potential dive site and that thought continued until about 5 seconds after I jumped into the water. Uh oh. It was very green murky water with less than 5 feet of visibility! The only good news is that it felt like being back home in the plankton rich emerald seas of British Columbia!
Read MoreUnfortunately, the wind was being a little uncooperative today, and ash from the volcanic island was blowing into the water column, hampering visibility a fair bit. Nevertheless, there were some silvertip shark sightings, and the first day went by smoothly. Also, this trip coincided with a full moon, with a lunar eclipse due in a few days, the nights are beautiful.
Read MoreTo our great fortune, we were greeted almost immediately by a pair of chevron giant manta rays! They stayed with us the entire day, waiting patiently under the Nautilus until we re-entered the water, and graced us with some intimate interaction and eye-to-eye contact. The mantas may have dominated the centre stage at The Canyon, but that’s not to say that other pelagic animals didn’t get their time in the limelight, as we were also treated to a couple of close passes by a school of hammerhead sharks, and had some excellent sightings of a small group of silvertip sharks.
Read MoreThen off to Socorro to check in with the Mexican navy and dive Punta Tosca with the manta, tiger and hammerhead sharks on dive day 2 followed by Cabo Pearce on dive day 3. Our first dive at Cabo Pearce had great visibility and almost no current. It was a relaxing dive with a few sightings of dolphins and sharks off the outer point along with a group of Barberfish patiently waiting for something to clean. At times they even moved over to the scuba divers to see if they needed a clean.
Read MoreOn a different note, our great thanks to the Mexican Navy for their help today. One of our guests started feeling ill last night and was diagnosed this morning with acute pancreatitis – which is extremely serious and potentially life threatening. A number of evacuation options were considered including a chopper medivac flight right to the boat, which is possible because the Nautilus Explorer has a rated helicopter deck. No options are easy or simple on a small ship anchored in the lee of a volcano, 250 miles out into the open Pacific ocean.
Read MoreWe are at sea today enroute from Cabo San Lucas/San Jose del Cabo to San Benedicto Island with the roughest weather we have seen this season. There was a big honking storm with humongous seas off the Oregon/California coast a couple of days ago and we are getting the residual wave train of 7 to 8 feet on a fairly long period. The ride on the good ‘ol Nautilus Explorer isn’t bad but we are getting the occasional haystack where the energy of waves from different directions converges and literally piles up into a column of water, as well as potholes where the opposite happens and you get a deep trough.
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