Location: The Boiler divesite, San Benedicto Island, Socorro, Mexico Spent the last dives of the trip at the Boiler divesite and finally got the giant mantas. And then some. Great interaction. Passing and passing and curiously approaching us and even following us back to the Nautilus Explorer so that we can continue to snorkel with them […]
Read MoreThe visibility and surface conditions were excellent today, and the sharks were very cooperative, with multiple sightings of silvertip, silky, Galapagos, hammerhead, and of course whitetip reef sharks. And at the end of the second dive, a very lucky group of 5 scuba divers saw a female humpback with a calf swim by at their safety stop! This is an extremely lucky experience, and I think I can speak for the group who saw this when I say that it made their trip and won’t be soon forgotten.
Read MoreOne of our divers reported seeing extraordinary behaviour with a very large male mobula ray (which is still dwarflike in size compared to a giant manta ray) pursuing a female chevron giant manta. While we have seen a lot more female than male mantas this season, the males are definitely here and we sometimes observe what appears to be mating behaviour with the male pursuing the female from behind and the two of them soaring and dancing through the water. It’s hard to tell if they are both enjoying it (not meaning to anthropomorphize the behaviour too much) or if the female is simply trying to get away from a doggedly determined lustful male!! Anyways, Roberto is quite sure that the pursuing ray was a mobula as its mouth was not located terminally. Soooooo, the question is whether he might have witnessed a prelude to interspecies sex!?!
Read MoreAnyways, when a large black manta came in towards our divers, the silky took off towards the manta and hit it really hard in the gill area. Really hard! The giant manta took off and that was the last that anyone saw of it. It’s all very interesting as we’ve always wondered why sharks don’t attack the mantas (it is very rare to see bite marks on a manta). I guess they do!!
Read MoreThey started the day out at the Canyon dive site at San Benedicto Island, and on the first dive, two guests took some fantastic images of an adult female humpback whale and her calf. Divers also saw five Silvertip sharks at the main cleaning station. One closed circuit rebreather diver had the fantastic good fortune of sighting something that none of us had ever seen before – a verified school of approximately 100 juvenile Silvertip sharks. Incredible!!
Read MoreThe west side of Socorro Island has beautiful rolling hills with low green vegetation that is gradually turning brown as the residual moisture from last summer’s hurricane season drys up. Divers lucked out with a large and very friendly giant manta ray that stuck with them for a great interaction during one dive. Humpback whales were all around and spent their day breaching, fluking and singing whale songs that could be heard underwater.
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