I ended this year (2012) with a closer look at razor sharp teeth than I have ever seen in 12 years of diving experience: Socorro Island on the Nautilus Explorer

The hammerhead sharks were just hanging out at about 80ft. I had this one encounter where I just stared out into the blue, not knowing that a school of them were just over my head, but one got my attention, it just kept coming and coming. It got about 3 feet away from where I was. I had a close look at the razor sharp teeth, that was my first encounter with one that came that close for the 12 years of diving experience.

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Whale carcass drew in a small schools of sharks

Today we had not only 4 amazing dives but the added adventure of a large chunk of whale floating past the boat. Normally I would not consider this a good thing but the 2m sq hunk of humpback whale was providing shelter and nourishment for a variety of fish. Our intrepid Captain Al took a few of us out to get a closer look (and smell unfortunately) in one of the ribs.

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Humpback Whales are officially in Roca Partida!!! Socorro, Baja California, Mexico.

HOW WAS YOUR DIVE DAY? Roca Partida day #2 Another beautiful day at Roca Partida! The sun finally came out for us this morning and has been shining bright all day. While driving the skiff during the second dive, the humpback whales started putting on a fantastic show just forward of the bow. Since yesterday […]

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Captain’s Log – Socorro Island, Baja California, Mexico–May 29, 2011

After two great days of shark encounters at Roca Partida we traveled overnight last night 65 nautical miles to the largest of the Islas Revillagigedo, Socorro Island. Arriving here early this morning our first stop was the navy base at the south end of the island, where each trip we are boarded by the Mexican […]

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The 3rd dive was just a party with the same 3 Mantas.

  After 4 weeks off being back on board feels really good. Especially with with a great group of divers and crew. We spent our first day at the canyon on San Benedicto. Some of the guests and Juan (Dive Master)saw a group of Hammerheads, for the 2nd and 3th dive we moved to the […]

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New Diving Site at Socorro Island but Lack of Charismatic Megafauna

Punta Tosca on dive day 4 was also surprisingly quiet and the visibility was low so after 2 dives at the outer point we decided to move the Nautilus up a couple of bays and try a new site. A series of small rocks sticking out of the water with a sheer drop to 120 feet on one side and shallower bays on the other. It proved to be fascinating and several guests saw sea turtles and a “fly by” with a giant manta. Definitely a site that we will repeat but once again the “charismatic megafauna” was elusive.

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Roca Partida – Oceanic Oasis Under a Full Moon

We saw Silvertip sharks, Galapagos sharks, Silky sharks, Hammerheads and White Tipped Reef sharks. There was a school of jacks at between 60 and 80 feet that stayed off the north point for both the days that we were there. The night of the full moon coincided with our night at Roca Partida which always makes for a spectacular evening on the “moon deck,” especially when combined with the flat seas that we were experiencing. A good omen for the rest of the trip.

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