None of us are ever going to forget the 1/2 million booby birds (and their incredibly cute chicks) that we saw, the 5 million bright orange land crabs, the amazing number of moray eels and their bizarre behaviour, the thick “clouds” of black and big-eye jacks, heavy schools of black triggerfish and rainbow runners, the endemic iridescent blue Clipperton angelfish and the coconut groves, white sand beaches and beautiful setting.
Read MoreI literally laid on the white sand bottom at 175 feet watching 12 leather bass (yes, I counted them!) and a school of big eye jacks swarming around me, the bizarre free swimming fine spotted moray eels of Clipperton Island swimming around like fish everywhere I looked, beautiful brilliant blue juvenile endemic Clipperton angelfish darting around and the coral wall sloping up above me with the Nautilus Explorer outlined up above in the beautiful blue water.
Read MoreI have to report that we haven’t seen many sharks yet. Three hammerheads and a couple of silvertips today and that was it – OH WAIT!! We also saw a nice 25ft whale shark swim by this morning!! We often see whale sharks at Roca Partida (Socorro Island) in November and December, and then they disappear when the water cools down as the cool waters of the California current push southward. The water temperature at Clipperton Island is presently 82˚F and I’m wondering whether the Socorro whale sharks head down this way to stay in nice balmy water?? Hmmm.
Read MoreSpent the morning at the Canyon on San Benedicto. I splashed in on the first dive which was pleasant with a couple of hammerhead shark sightings plus good ol’ Lumpy, our tame and over friendly leather bass putting in his regular appearance at the inner cleaning station. Dive 2 was GREAT with two friendly giant manta rays showing up as well as silvertip, Galapagos and hammerhead shark sightings.
Read MoreWe spent the rest of the day at Cabo Pearce where the diving was very good. Divers saw a large school of hammerhead sharks above the outer cleaning station (in approximately 50 feet of water), smaller groups of hammerhead sharks as well as Galapagos and silky sharks.
Read MoreAnyways, the visibility this morning 80ft plus and our divers had some great hammerhead, silvertip and galapagos shark sightings. Plus good old Lumpy, our tame leather bass with the broken jaw was there as always. I was very tempted to stay for another dive but flexibility is the name of this game and our guests wanted to move on to the Boiler on the west side of San Benedicto Island.
Read MoreIt’s the last dive day of this trip and everyone is sad that it’s going to be over shortly. The diving conditions at the Canyon and the Boiler dive sites at San Benedicto Island can be highly variable and Captain Dave reports that the diving has been quieter than usual over the last couple of weeks. It’s still “very good” with large biomasses of fish, silvertip, Galapagos, silky and hammerhead sharks and, of course, our friendly giant manta rays.
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