A Day at the Office
Here I am, back in the office. Well aboard the Nautilus Explorer. As usual it’s like I was never away. The crew has not changed much at all, we do have a new hostess. Another Australian, Lita. No matter where you go or what you do, there’s always a couple of Aussies.
Due to the upcoming Christmas break this would be a shorter trip than usual, with only five dive days. The weather for the five days looked pretty good, but some high winds were forecast for the 3rd day and so our itinerary looked like this:
- Dive Day 1 - San Benedicto
- Dive Day 2 - San Benedicto
- Dive Day 3 - Socorro Island
- DIve Day 4 - Roca Partida
- Dive Day 5 - Roca Partida
After our check out dive at at “The Canyon” I thought that we could be in for a long five days when two of the guests had to make unplanned and fairly lengthy decompression stops. However, we sorted out the issues and it turned out to be a great group and great trip. We made our way to the west side of the island and made a couple of dives at “The Boiler” which is usually our best chance for seeing the Giant Pacific Manta. I was so glad to be back at this site and to check out the mantas. After our run in with the fishermen last season I always jump into the water here expecting the worst, and for the site to be covered in nets. All was well, and after only a few minutes hanging out at the site we were joined by the first of two female mantas. After a little bit of “mantish” the secret body language that Sten and I use to communicate with these majestic creatures, she was swooping around the group of divers. It was not long before a second manta joined in and they both glided around the divers occasionally hovering over divers so that they could be gently stroked on their undersides. We do not encourage touching of any of the animals, but our mantas here seem to want to interact. Indeed it seems that they actively solicit our company and they are extremely curious and especially like to make eye contact. So, when one of these huge and graceful plankton eaters hovers directly above you only inches away it is difficult to resist the urge to make physical contact. The mantas stayed with us for the entire dive and were also there for a short time when we hopped in for our third dive of the day.
The following day was much the same story, with more amazing encounters with the mantas. A couple of our divers also hung out with a small pod of dolphin around the back side of the dive site. It’s always amazing here and you never know what might turn up. Even without the large pelagic creatures there is fantastic diving in and around the site. We almost always find several octopus and large moray eels as well schooling jacks and tuna. Day three and we were anchored at the navy base on Socorro island for our routine inspection by the small contingent of Mexican marines. By 1100 we were around the corner at “Punta Tosca” and back in the water. The current was hard and there was a lot of surge which made for a fairly short but adrenaline filled dive as the divers fought with the surge. A couple of reef sharks and four mantas were sighted and despite the work out most of the divers came up happy. By the time we splashed for the second dive of the day after lunch the currents had died right off and the site was much more what we were used to. I had intended to swim down and along the lava finger here towards the deeper water in the hope of seeing hammerheads. That plan changed when I dropped into the water and was met by a large black female manta that I don’t think I’d before.
The mantas all have unique markings on their ventral (under) sides and over time you begin to recognise certain individuals. In fact we send photographs of the mantas we see to a research organisation which helps us to track the population in this area. This particular manta was curious but wary. She would circle around me and the other divers who soon joined me and then evaporate into the blue, only to reappear a few minutes later to check us out again. This continued for several minutes, during which time I hovered a little above the lava ridge we were diving and watched her. When I was sure she had settled down, I altered my position in the water and raised a hand over head, slowly she swam over and hovered right above me allowing me to stroke her for a few moments before she headed around to check out other divers. Then she continued to swim long slow circuits around the divers, sometimes stopping and hovering in the current above the ridge to observe us or allow herself to be stroked. It’s still a mystery why the mantas here behave the way they do. All we know is that we are fortunate to be able see and interact the mantas here. Mantas are protected in Mexican waters but the fisherman often come to this area to fish and either by design or accident they take these wonderful animals from the ocean.
Finally we headed west for Roca Partida. When we arrived the weather and conditions were not as good as they can be, but still not too bad for this area of the Pacific. We had a very brief encounters with whale sharks and a manta and also a sea lion, which is very odd for Roca Partida. There were good sightings of hammerheads and the silver tip sharks seemed to be actively hunting in the schooling fish at the northern tip of the rock. It was a great trip. With some great diving and phenomenal wildlife encounters. For me it’s not just the underwater part if my work that I enjoy. I also like to be out on the skiffs. Once I have dropped off the divers I have the whole ocean pretty much to myself. I can just watch the waves or the seabirds and wonder what might be on the next horizon or what changes the ocean winds might bring.



