Friday, August 28, 2015

Another great adventure on our 4th trip of the season to Isla Guadalupe!

Hi all!

August 25, 2015

At the barking sound of sea lions we leave the port of Ensenada, once again taking the heading for Isla Guadalupe Mexico, some how the seals here remind us of great whites!

Our crossing was a bit bumpy for some of our guests, as we are getting into the Biosphere of Guadalupe we look at this huge island covered with fog on its higher point! Our captain Gerardo drives the boat at good distance from it to show those huge volcanic walls and smooth waters since are under the shield of it, a panorama that at the same time makes us think how fascinating and remote this island really is.

It was 10:30 in the morning when the first male shark appeared, not one of the biggest ones we've seen, but its got the two distinctive colors, and for many of our guests it is the first one they have ever seen! They rushed to get in the surface cage to see the first bite it will inflict to that yummy chunk of yellow fin tuna! Others had the opportunity to observe from the sundeck how it slowly swim cutting the surface of the water with dorsal fin! It will take one hour before a second rotation of 8 enthusiastic divers get to see the shark below the surface! But a second shark comes into the playground making every one not wanting to wait more time!

We have a water temperature 22C/72F, visibility of over 24m/80ft, and the sharks kept coming in and out throughout the day! Even seagulls floating on the surface need to watch out! Sharks investigate anything that floats away from cages! When we have 3 or 4 sharks in same area, the wrangling becomes a lot of fun, challenging but fun! At sunset time the color of the water get more intense sharks were still swimming back and forwd around the cages.

The next day during the same trip we had the fortune to see once again sharks that we know by name: Mau, Zapata, Atlantis and Horizon, plus five more joined them in just one day, and an unexpected guess came by totally out of the blue! A 2.0/6ft long scallop Hammer Head that spent about 30 minutes swimming around the baits, it's swimming pattern was erratic when compared to a white shark, attracted by the smell of blood went straight for it, sinking the floater over and over finally took with it a good piece of fish!

With the island in front of us, today had a spooky look! Foggy, clouds half way down from the top, letting see at times those caves with a dark entrance, Guadalupe and Elephant seals constantly barking from the beach! Other juvenile seals dare to cross that area where sharks are just waiting the opportunity to ambush one of them! Of course our cameras are always ready to capture the moment.  A bit deeper than just surface cage we had a different perspective of how shark gets ready to launch the attack, they are curious, they investigate, they come close and closer to the point we make eye contact! Then you wonder…. What is happening in its brain right this second?

Dive Instr

Daniel Zapata
Solmar V.



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