Our poor guests – some folks were on the port side of the ship watching the bears (which got especially interesting when the grizzlies spotted something further down the beach and got up on their hind legs to get a better view) while other guests were on the starboard side watching the fantastic humpback whale action. And some poor guests were running back and forth to both sides of the boat trying to watch everything at once!!
Read MoreThere is a large population of stellar sea lions around Inian Island that are always interested in scuba divers and the Nautilus Explorer – to the point that they hang around between dives and sometimes come half out of the water to try and look in the portholes of the ship! Fish life is great. Humpback whales and sea otters swim back and forth past the boat all day long. The scenery is absolutely spectacular although that is a pretty lame description compared to the reality of the vista across the strait. It would be more accurate to describe the mountains to the north as imagining what it would look like if a scaled down version of the Himalayas extended to the water’s edge!! There are even rumours of salmon sharks (ie. imagine a 10 foot scaled down version of a great white shark) in the area and you can bet that we are keeping our eyes open for those guys. It’s an amazing place and unquestionably worth diving and continuing our explorations.
Read MoreAnyways, we saw one young adult today who defied any description of humpback whale behaviour that I have ever observed. Bob (which is what we named this guy) was hanging out with stellar sea lions instead of other humpback whales. Not only was Bob hanging out and interacting with 10-20 sea lions at a time, but he also seemed to be mimicking their behaviour. Twisting and turning on the surface and throwing himself from side to side. Bob was even doing barrel rolls and swimming along on his back. Even more oddly, Bob approached the Nautilus Explorer a couple of times with his head out of the water – just like a sea lion. All I can say is that never before have I seen a humpback whale that so clearly wanted to be a sea lion.
Read MoreMany different nudibranchs were seen and photographed and Alicia found a very small blue arthropod which she had never seen before. This would not mean much if I said it but Alicia studies nudibranchs in the Eastern Pacific and is Mexico’s leading expert on nudibranchs! She spends lots of time looking at small stuff in the ocean and when she gets excited, I get excited!
Read MoreAfter two dives on Farnsworth we went closer to the island and dove Indian Head Point where we had a balmy 59°F at the surface dropping to 56°F at 70 feet. The visibility was low, approximately 10 feet but there was so much to see that it was not a problem. Swimming through the trunks of kelp was like walking through a forest at twilight in the mist. The kelp “trees” would appear out of nowhere and there were sea fans of multiple colours all over. Probably the most exciting part of the dive was the sea hares. Large, black and everywhere.
Read MoreAnother great day of diving in the southern Channel Islands. Here is what I recorded in my personal dive log: Aquarium Reef – temp 56, vis 30 feet, breezy, 3 foot swell – lots of purple corralline algae and small amounts of purple hard coral. (Dive with Ian) Aquarium Reef – temp 56, vis 20 feet, breezy, 3 foot swell, Garibaldi NW Harbor – temp 55, vis 20 feet, light breeze, 1-2 foot swell – kelp forest, sea lions, nudibranchs. NW Harbor (twilight) – temp 55 vis 20 feet, calm, calm – blue shark, much more skittish than those we are used to in the Revillagigedo.
Read MoreDivemaster Tricia here. Captain Mike has pneumonia and had to go back to Vancouver. The “other” Captain Mike (Innes) is onboard. We left Ensenada yesterday afternoon after our guests were transferred down by luxury highway coach, steamed overnight and set the anchor at San Clemente Island this morning. This is my first time diving the California Channel Islands but the very able Captain Eric Kett (formerly of Truth Aquatics) is working dive operations and knows this area like the back of his hand. We dove Window Pane with its fabulous kelp forest. And then Pyramid Cove which was especially great with large schools of blue rockfish and lots of sea lions hanging around.
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