Fortunately, the mako did not hang around and the reason was soon clear when a couple of 12′ male great whites showed up and seemed to be taking turns to make a run on baits we had out. Despite the best efforts of the crew on the bait lines, the sharks seemed to be on a winning streak.
Read MoreThe behaviour is reportedly very different than anything we have seen before with multiple shark breaches each day, lots of competitive behaviour between the individual animals and aggressive and high speed passes under the boat and off the transom. This is very different than the slower and graceful behaviour that we have seen in past seasons. I’m not sure what to make of it and am fearful that the root cause is hungry sharks because of a reduced stock of tuna around Isla Guadalupe.
Read MoreDave and the divemasters reported that the first shark appeared within 20 minutes of putting the first cage in the water. Total number of sightings included at least eight great white sharks (maybe more), including our old friends Shredder (with the tattered dorsal fin) and Bruce.
Read MoreWe’ve been watching one poor old Galapagos shark with a fish hook and leader stuck in his gill plate all season. I’ve become quite certain that Galapagos sharks are resident rather than transient because we see this guy every time we dive Roca Partida. The sad thing is that he has been getting skinnier and skinnier and now looks quite emaciated. The alarming thing is that his behaviour is changing and he is now coming in VERY close to divers. He swam up to me this afternoon and it’s the first time that I had a gut feeling that I had better “watch out” around him. An understandable behaviour I guess if he is sick and starving to death. Damn, I wish there was an easy way to get rid of the illegal longliner fishing boats.
Read MoreLocation: Halfway between San Jose del Cabo (Cabo San Lucas) and San Benedicto Island (Socorro), Islas Revillagigedos Comments: We departed San Jose del Cabo (Cabo San Lucas) last night for FRANCE via San Benedicto Island (Socorro)!!! Yup, Clipperton Atoll is a French territory, and as far as the Mexican authorities are concerned, we are sailing […]
Read MoreWe checked the radar and discovered a large (225ft??) target doing tight circles off Roca Partida and clearly in the Biosphere Reserve. I suspected that it was a large tuna clipper and that they were watching us through their binoculars because as soon as we launched one of our inflatables, all the lights on the other ship blinked off. The illegal boat then started jinking around at high speed (15 knots plus), apparently doing it’s best to stay away from the inflatable.
Read MoreDivers saw the usual complement of electric rays, Socorro lobster, silky, Galapagos and hammerhead sharks, but their most spectacular encounter was with a single bottlenose dolphin who adopted the divers. We’ve been seeing similar behaviour from the dolphins all winter, where they hang out and literally imitate the divers. If a diver hangs on to the ascent line, the dolphin will rest the underside of his head on the line. If a diver blows bubbles, the dolphins will blow bubbles. If a diver does a 360-degree roll, the dolphin will do a full roll (well actually, they tend to be somewhat playful and will often do a 720-degree roll or even a triple barrel roll).
Read More
