Trip Reports, Con't

Continued from Trip Reports-Sept 15-19, 2007
Nov 6-16, 2006

Nov 6 Day One
We loaded on a special film cage and took off one of our regular 4-diver cages. The Galatee film group consisted of 11 people of whom only 5 were divers. They even had their own diving doctor. A couple of divers were former crewmembers of Jacques Cousteau’s ship the Calypso. I knew that we were going to be departing a lot later than usual when I saw that 65 boxes of camera and support equipment was to be loaded aboard the Horizon. There were 5 closed circuit rebreather units along with two large broadcast High Definition cameras with their huge housings, plus a smaller 35 MM camera and housing. Special HD monitors, tools and even a portable recompression chamber were loaded aboard. The doctor had to go to one of the local medical clinics to find a suturing kit and some of the divers walked over to a nearby dive shop to purchase small items such as hoods and booties. The film crew decided to have lunch nearby at the landing before departing. By the time we left the dock it was almost 3 in the afternoon. It was a sunny day and we lucked out once again with a calm sea for our transit down to Isla de Guadalupe. It’s hard to believe that it is November when the weather is in the mid 80s! We are making good time and should arrive at the island around 1200. After dinner and then discussing the film’s storyboard most everyone turns in for the night. Most of the film crew had flown over from France the night before the trip so they were jet-lagged.

Nov 7 Day Two
The “lupe” appeared on the horizon around 0800 am. We motored into our usual anchoring spot just north of “Monkey face” and launched the cage around 1230. The first shark of the day showed up at 1245. We had great visibility and calm sea state with 68-degree water temp. “Ugly” is a large 16 ft female that has a lot of scaring on her left side. Another smaller female showed up a little later. A few of the divers got into the cage to check out their gear. The primary cameraman, Didier and a safety diver got outside of the cage and down a 30 foot down line to calibrate their rebreathers and to watch the behavior of the white sharks to divers outside the cage. This is for a special scene to be shot for the feature film that the film crew is working on. It is a 4-year project to be filmed at 60 different locations around the world and made into a two-hour movie that will be distributed internationally. The film is to be titled “Oceans”. By the end of the day three sharks had visited us. The film crew was excited about tomorrow’s filming opportunities. After a delicious sushi appetizer and seared Ahi dinner, we watched some of the footage shot on previous locations. There were predators from the “sardine run” near Durban, South Africa, Humpback Whales in French Polynesia, and Sperm Whales off Dominica in the Caribbean. Most headed for their berths early to rest up for tomorrow’s diving. More...

July 27-31, 2007

July 29             Day Three
Everyone had a sound sleep last night. We once again gathered at 6:30 for coffee and cookies before heading to our respective boats. We saw the same dolphins on the way out the Sandra; on the girls on the bow shouted that she had seen a school of Golden Rays. The captain reversed course and sure enough we motored up to a huge school of Golden Rays just under the surface. There must have been several hundred 2-3 ft Golden Rays in the school. There were rays from the surface down as far as we could see into the water. It was a magical site! After everyone got pictures of the rays we continued on our original course. It was unbelievable, but we ran into two more schools of Golden Rays! We took some more pictures and continued looking for Whale Sharks. We finally found a couple of sharks, but they were moving too fast for the snorkelers. The captain then got a report over the marine radio that there was a group of Whale Sharks and Mantas close by. We raced to get to the spot to find that there were at least a dozen Whale Sharks and lots of Mantas all swimming near the surface feeding on a concentration of plankton. One of the passengers remarked “this is like Disneyland!” There were so many Whale Sharks and even more Mantas than the previous day that they didn’t know where to look! Today even topped the previous day’s experience. Once back at the dock some got cleaned up to a special tour to see the Flamingos and splash in the local cenote. I on the other hand opted for a massage. After an hour of this tiny gal kneading my body all over with soothing aromatic oil and warmed stones, I felt like a wet noodle. It was sooo relaxing! Hey ya gotta relax on vacation, right?

July 30             Day Four
After meeting for coffee we headed to our respective pangas for our last day of Whale Shark viewing. The first Whale
Shark we splashed with was moving too fast for the snorkelers to keep up with so we moved on to where we could see a grouping of animals a short distance away. It was a repeat of the previous day with 12 Whale Sharks and several Mantas concentrated in an area about the size of a football field. There were also several Bottlenose Dolphins cruising nearby. Everyone onboard the panga I was on got several opportunities to swim with the Whale Sharks and Mantas. The last Whale Shark we snorkeled with was a small female only about 15 ft long. The thing that was special about this particular Whale Shark was that it was moving very slowly thru the water as it concentrated on feeding and it didn’t seem to mind having snorkelers nearby. Several times during the 45 minutes that snorkelers were near the animal it would stop its forward swimming and go tail down head up in a vertical position and just open and close its mouth sucking water then straining out plankton. This behavior allowed the snorkelers to stop swimming themselves and get even closer to the animal without having to keep up with it. I had seen behavior like this once before the previous year and it is an underwater photographer’s dream because it allows them the opportunity to compose their photo while stopped in the water and also to get close up images of the open mouth of the Whale Shark. Wow what an ending to our last day on the water. After cleaning gear and setting it out to dry some of us met for lunch at one of the beach restaurants while one opted for a massage and another for horseback riding. Later that evening all in the group ended up at a funky little restaurant called La Rustica that is owned by a German couple. Deiter runs the kitchen and Martina takes care of the tables. Who would have guessed you could get “weinerschnitzel” in tropical Mexico!

July 31             Day Five

July 27-31, 2007 Isla Holbox Adventure

July 25             Day Three
The day started out nice and sunny as we had coffee and cookies at the Holbox Tours office, but afterwards as we made our way down the island it looked ominous as black clouds appeared all along the eastern horizon.
It wasn’t long before it started to rain lightly then the deluge hit. Half of the boat donned their wetsuits to stay dry and warm; while the others could only cover as best they could and bear with it. We stopped at the lighthouse to wait out the rain squalls with several of the other boats. After about 20 minutes we got back onboard out panga and slowly made out way out to the viewing area. We teamed up with two other boats for safety since there were still some rain clouds in the area and an occasional lightning strike in the distance. It wasn’t long before we sighted the first Whale Shark and then others in the same area. Each boat picked out an animal to work with and our viewing began. Everyone got all the Whale Shark action they wanted before we headed back towards the pier. Luckily we made it back before the next rain squall hit the village. Hey it’s the tropics, it rains sometimes!

July 26             Day Four
Today is the last Whale Shark viewing day for this group. They will be going back to Cancun to catch their flight home in the morning. After coffee we walk to the pier to board our boat. I bump into an old friend, Manuel Lazcano, who had been on several Blue Shark trips with me previously. He was in Holbox shooting some footage for a Mexican TV show. He did a short interview of me on camera asking my impressions of the Whale Sharks of Isla Holbox. The weather has settled some this morning and it is a smooth ride out to the reserve. It only took us 10 minutes to sight our first Whale Shark. The first two people were soon in the water and the next two gearing up for their turn. The rotations went quickly because this particular animal was moving quickly as it feed on the plankton and the snorkelers were having trouble keeping up the shark.
Captain Javier decided to look for another animal to work with. It wasn’t long until we were on another Whale Shark and this one was moving a lot slower. The slowly moving animal gave the snorkelers a better opportunity to view it as it fed in the rich green water. All too shortly we had to head back to the pier as our last day on the water ended. We had a great dinner at Los Pelicanos restaurant feasting on a huge platter of seafood and fresh homemade pasta. We topped off the meal with capuchino and tiramisu!

July 27             Day Five

Apr 2-10, 2007 Bahamas Tiger Shark Expedition

Apr 3 Day Two
As a beautiful dawn breaks we are treated to calm seas and clear skies. Wade, the chef is getting ready to cook breakfast and the early risers, myself included, are getting their dose of caffeine, to jump-start their ticker. After the Shear Water was cleared by the officials, we headed to a site called “Carcharinus Cut”. The dive site bottoms out at 80 ft with the top of the patch reef at 45 ft. The crew set out 3 bait crates on the reef to attract the Caribbean Reef Sharks. There were about a dozen of the animals on the reef by the time my group got into the water. One of the sharks had a deformed pectoral fin that forced it to swim tilted over on its left side. It reminded me of a sailboat heeled over in a strong wind as it cruised thru the ocean. Of course there the assorted other players attracted by the scent of dead fish such as groupers, the ever present Barracudas, and of course Yellowtail Snappers. There is a channel where Silverside Minnows gathered which made for a very cool swim-thru. We stayed on site making several dives until just before sunset when we moved to a shallower part of the bank where we tried to attract some Lemon Sharks to the back of the boat in an attempt to get some split images of the sharks going for some strip baits we offered. Unfortunately the Lemons were a little wary today and wouldn’t come in close enough to the swim step to get the shots. We’ll have to try again on another day. Everyone got cleaned up and Wade, the chef, put out a delicious evening meal. Some watched movies while others downloaded the day’s pictures into their laptops. One woman even knitted to pass the time before she called it a night.

Apr 4 Day Three
The captain fired up the Shear Water around 3 in the morning heading south for our first site of the day where we are hoping to view Great Hammerheads, Tigers, Bull Sharks, and maybe Lemon Sharks all in one dive. This should be interesting. The Shear Water moored at a site called “Off the Map”. These would be some of our deepest dives of the trip with the bottom being at 85-90 ft. The site is a flat plateau surrounded by sandy bottom with no coral features to speak of. Three bait crated were set on the down-line off stern of the boat. My group of three divers was the first to enter the water today. There was a stiff surface current running today, but once we reached the bottom the current slacked off some so that it was easy to maintain our position on the sand. There were already three hefty Bull Sharks cruising around as we slid down the down-line and once we reached the bottom we could see the 10 ft Tiger Shark slowing patrolling the area. There was even a small Lemon Shark on the outskirts of the scene cautiously sniffing the slick created by the bait inside of the crates. It was quite a scene as the three species of sharks milled about the bait trying to figure out how to get at some of that delicious fish. Jim Abernethy fixed that for them when he arrived on the bottom by opening one of the crates and spilling out its contents. The action definitely picked up from there. The Bull Sharks swooped in to slurp up the tidbits on the bottom and then the Tiger Shark named “Curly”, moved in for her share. Curly was aptly named for her deformed tail. The lower lobe of the female Tiger Shark’s tail was curled tightly and was a distinctive feature of the animal. She is what Abernethy calls a “Super Star”, a player and very much into close up encounters. If you don’t like in you face time with a large predatory fish, this isn’t the dive for you! The unfortunate fact of diving at these depths is the limited bottom time so after only 15 minutes I had to begin making my way up the line to my safety stop. Once on the boat and out of our gear we excitedly recounted the dive with those just getting ready to go in. And so it went through the day. We all made multiple dives on the site. We were visited later in the day by a couple of Great Hammerhead sharks that surfaced just behind one of the hang baits the crew had trailing behind the boat. Unfortunately the hammers were shy and would take the bait or come close enough to get any decent photos of. Maybe tomorrow! After another good evening meal and a movie all retired to their berths. It was calm enough to stay moored on site the entire night. We’ll try again in the morning to get the hammerheads to cooperate.

Apr 5 Day Four
After a calm night spent on the mooring, we got our jolt of caffeine to start the day. The hang bait line was deployed and casting out the scent. Hopefully it shouldn’t be too long before we have a Great Hammerhead sniffing around. The routine would be different today. Instead of going to the bottom 80 ft below we would spread out on a trailing line attached to the down-line at about 15 ft. Finally we had a Great Hammer show at the surface behind the hang bait line. There is something special about seeing that distinctive high dorsal fin of a Great Hammerhead Shark at it breaks the surface. No other shark has such a high erect dorsal fin. It is like a small sail. Once you’ve seen one you will always remember what it looks like. The first group went in and spread themselves along the trailing line. We could see strobes going off right away as one of the deftly handled the hang bait line. 50 minutes later the first diver returned and was immediately peppered with questions. There were two Great Hammers cruising down-current of the bait and several Bull Sharks in mid-water and they could see a couple of Tiger Sharks slowing patrolling along the bottom. That’s a heck of a combination when you think about it. Where else in the world can you see Great Hammerheads, Bull Sharks, and Tiger Sharks in one dive? Most divers would give their eyeteeth to see just one of those species of sharks! The weather was holding as the day progressed and the sharks stayed active until we finally left the water around 6:30 in the evening. There was even a guest appearance by a small Dusky Shark. We actually had to look up the Dusky in the shark reference book to make sure we were looking at the right animal. Everyone was animated as we recounted the day’s experiences. Captain Jake fired up the Shear Water and began the transit up north to “Tiger Beach” Tiger Beach is a site famous for the close encounters with multiple Tiger and Lemon Sharks. What is great about the site is that it is only 15 ft deep, so you can stay in the water all day.

Apr 6 Day Five
Dawn arrived with overcast skies and a good breeze the water was aquamarine green and the bottom clearly visible. There were small jacks and Ballyhoo swimming at the stern and several Tigers and a couple of Lemon Sharks cruising around already. We were waiting for a slack tide and clearer water before making our first splash. Things are looking good so far. At 11:45 I was the first to go in. Just as I submerged a Lemon Shark knocked my video camera out of my hand and it gently floated to the bottom just 12 ft below. As I recovered from this rude greeting I was treated to at least 3-dozen Lemon Sharks and 4 Tiger Sharks cruising all around the Shear Water. I have to be honest and admit it was a little intimidating being in the water alone surrounded that many large sharks! It wasn’t long before other divers join me which helped the “anxiety” factor, at least now we could point towards the Tiger Sharks so they wouldn’t be sneaking up behind us. It worked most of the time! The thing is, these animals don’t make any noise when they swim and with that many sharks all around us there were several times when I’d look around and there would be a Tiger Shark within a few feet of me where one hadn’t been just a couple of seconds ago! It was interesting to notice that some of the Lemon Sharks were swimming with the mouths wide open while small Remoras, often called “shark suckers”, would be cleaning the animal’s teeth. That is a behavior that I hadn’t seen before. After the dive Jim Abernethy told me that Howard Hall had seen the same cleaning behavior with the Remoras and Tiger Sharks. We continued to dive with the sharks of “Tiger Beach” throughout the day. My wife Trudy, who usually only make a couple of dives per day, enjoyed it so much that she made three dives today! The divers kept rotating into and out of the water until about 5:30 when Abernethy announced he had something in store for us.
He has a picture in the boat’s salon of a Lemon Shark taken at sunset that is a “split shot” with the lens half in the water and half above the surface, and the Lemon Shark has its mouth wide open just in front of the camera. He was going to it set up so that the guests would have the opportunity to get that same shot. He showed us how to configure our cameras asked that three people get out onto the swim step. The crew then would dangle small baitfish that they had caught earlier on the end of fishing lines to entice the sharks to come right up to the swim step.
A dozen Lemon Sharks rushed the swim step as soon as the baits hit the water just in from of the people standing on the swim step. It was absolutely wild!! There was a lot of jostling as the sharks came right up onto the swim step with the people and bumped the front of the cameras. It was often a comical seen as those on the swim step hopped out of the way when the sharks got a little too frisky! Those on the deck were having a ball with their surface cameras taking pictures of the people on the swim step taking close up pictures of the sharks. Finally the sun was setting and everyone had a turn on the swim step with the sharks. The dinner conversation was certainly animated and entertaining this evening as everyone recounted the day’s activities.

Capt Jake fired up the Shear Water to make a run to Small Cay. It would be a calm anchorage for the night.

Apr 7 Day Six
The wind had picked up overnight but we fired up the Shear Water and headed for “Tiger Beach” anyway. We only got about 3 miles before we had to turn back toward Sandy Cay to re-anchor and wait out the weather. Looks like it is going to be a movie day. At least the weather forecast is for diminishing wind speed tomorrow. After about four hours on the anchor the ever sharp-eyed Trudy noticed a large shadow in the water circling the Shear Water. She called over Jim Clinkenbeard, another passenger to verify that it was a Tiger Shark. By the early afternoon we had view three movies and seen tow Tiger Sharks. Not bad for a non-dive day.

Apr 8 Day Seven
I can’t believe I slept in and didn’t wake up until 6:30. That’s 1 1/2 hours later than usual for me. The weather had definitely improved overnight so we headed directly for Tiger Beach eight miles to the north. By the time we got into the water there were already two dozen Lemon Sharks and three Tiger Sharks milling about the Shear Water. Everyone got in a couple of dives then we moved about a mile away to a spot called Sea Fan. At Sea Fan the bottom is dotted with brown, yellow and purple sea fans. The sea fans make the Lemon Sharks swim off the bottom so it is easier to get images of them from a different angle than just cruising the sand on the bottom. It appeared that the same sharks had followed us from Tiger Beach to Sea Fan. After one dive at Sea Fan we again moved another four miles towards the edge of the bank for a site called “El Dorado”. The is where Howard Hall spent 6 days while filming a portion of his latest theater release “Into the Deep”. Several bait crates were placed atop the reef at 45 ft to attract mostly Caribbean Reef Sharks, but as the afternoon wore on Tiger Sharks moved in. An especially big Tiger Shark named “Emma” had been hanging out away from the reef until her old friend Jim Abernethy came down to shake the bait crates to let here know it was time to greet the divers. Emma is a massive female Tiger Shark who dwarfed the other two Tiger Sharks that had joined her. She is well know by Jimmy and has been seen at or near Tiger Beach for years. She has a gentle personality and is actually very good at posing for photos. She is what Jim Abernethy calls a “super model”. Even though it was late in the day most divers made multiple dives with Emma. Claire Davies, had already showered, when Jim talked her into going beck down to dive with Emma. Everyone had great encounters with the massive Tiger Shark and took multiple images of her. Strobes could be seen flashing from the surface every few seconds as the divers repeatedly fired off shot of the action below. The dinner conversation of course centered on Emma and the two other Tigers of the afternoon.
The Shear Water slowly motored back to Tiger Beach central hoping to draw Emma and her friends over to the shallower dive site. Tomorrow is the last dive day. We’ll have to wait and see if Emma and her friends followed us.

Apr 9 Day eight
The sun rose to clear blue skies with puffy white clouds scattered in interesting patterns and a calm sea with aquamarine water. We could already see several Lemon and Tiger Sharks circling the Shear Water. We made a couple of dives at the sandy site surrounded by at least a dozen Lemon Sharks and four Tiger Sharks. The light was beautiful underwater and made delightful patterns on the backs of the sharks as they swam by. We moved a short distance to the Sea Fan spot after lunch. The sea conditions still held and the diving was spectacular. At 4:300 Jimmy gave to order to begin dumping the remaining bait out of the crates to create what he calls the “monster chaos”. All the divers lined up on the bottom about 15 ft off the stern of the Shear Water and as the bait came floating down the sharks began to feast. The action certainly picked up as the animals rushed in to get their share. Both the Lemons and the Tigers are very adept at picking up baits from the bottom and once they start chomping down on the bait it makes for unusual images as each of the sharks opens up their mouths to maximum width. The Tiger Sharks can open their mouths much wider than the Lemons of the same size. It is pretty impressive looking down the wide-open mouth of a 14 ft Tiger Shark! As the sharks scanned the bottom looking for the source of the strong scent they came very close to the divers and everyone was able to get extreme close up shots of the sharks as they passed by. Finally Abernethy signaled that it was time to surface from our last dive. All the divers began the process of washing their gear and breaking down their cameras and underwater camera housings. One of the most often heard reframes was “Wow, I sure got my money’s worth on this trip”. It was a good group of divers and a super group of people to be on a boat with. The transit back to the marina in West Palm Beach, Florida was fairly calm. Overall the weather on this trip was the best of the three that have been on over the last six years.

Apr 10 Day nine
We are just waiting to clear US customs and Immigration before we can disembark and head on home. Some of group have extra days and will be visiting other parts of Florida. We all say our good byes. I’m sure that we’ll run into each other on another trip in the future. Gotta love those big beautiful Tiger Sharks!