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Cortes Bank We enjoyed a beautiful ride to Cortes Bank from Santa Barbara Island last night, departing close to midnight and arrived on cue at 6:30am. After weighing the options, studying the conditions, consulting my lucky eight ball and flipping a quarter, I decided to place our Cortes Bank ready divers into secret spot number 15. Number 14 was too deep, number 9 didn't feel right and 22 is only in a pinch. So number 15 it was! We whipped out three dives before noon and watched our live wells fill rapidly, and then completed a couple more dives in the afternoon to round out the day. I've spent 15 years studying the Bank, compiling data and enjoying every dive that I have made at this magical place. But today was off the charts in terms of lobster diving...it does not get better! The weather forecast for today was accurate as we enjoyed 2 - 3 foot seas and 5 knots of breeze. Light currents kept the diving easy and surge on the bottom was uncharacteristically mellow. The water temp is a balmy 65 degrees, with the visibility a un-Cortes like 45 feet. The vis is usually in the 80 to 100 foot range, but we'll take the good with the bad. And trust me...the good outweighed the bad 10 to 1 today! We'll spend the evening anchored up on the Bank and will get back at it early in the morning. The weather report for tomorrow is not as favorable, so we'll be on it early in the event we need to leave.
Adios,
Santa Barbara Island Our intent was to make it to Cortes Bank to start the 2007/8 lobster season. Unfortunately the weather gods were not shining favourably upon us. A mere 45 miles from San Diego I made the power decision to change course toward Santa Barbara Island. We arrived a bit late, but made up for lost time by putting together a couple good dives. Our lobster divers came back with the goods. The catches were not spectacular, but everyone was happy. It's all that I could ask. I enjoyed a couple dives today, and found a couple lobster in my path. But the best part of my dives were the cool animals that I happened upon. Angel sharks, torpedo rays, bat rays and a giant black sea bass! Plus the friendly sea lions of Santa Barbara Island. During my second dive I happened upon an area that was carpeted by multi coloured brittlestars, in the thousands! Eerie and cool at the same time... Our night dive was the best for bugs today. We had a number of divers complete there limits with 1/3 of the lobster that made there way onboard being captured during this dive. The offshore weather forecast looks favorable for the next couple days, so as I write we are preparing to strike out toward Cortes Bank, 65 miles to our south. Stay tuned!
Adios,
San Clemente Island
"There's a Sparrow's Cay at Hole in the Wall!"
San Clemente Island
"Beautiful day at San Clemente." As we churned our way up to the East end of San Clemente Island, the silver and golden-hued moon dipped below the western horizon just as the sky behind us began to turn a pre-dawn rosy tint. With a little bit of a south swell running, we headed over to the lee side of the island for some gorgeous diving at Window Pane. 65 degree water down to 70 feet and up sixty feet of visibility met our divers as they made their giant strides from the side of the boat. A sea lion paused to play with one of our divers, while curious garibaldi peeked into the masks of others. The reef was packed with spiny lobsters of all sizes and a few shy morays gulped water by their gills back in the crevices and cracks. After lunch we moved over to Calico Cliffs and the huge boulder field below the sheer walls. The wind swell was picking up a bit so we moseyed down the island to set up camp at Two Caves where the kelp forest held opal eyes, half moons kelp bass, and some curious sea lions also buzzed by our divers. The night dive was a lobster mania with bugs crawling everywhere, cleaner shrimp peeking out of their caves and blacksmith hiding for the evening. The full moon kept us company as we anchored up for the rest of the night in Pyramid Cove.
We look forward to some more good diving here
at Clemente tomorrow.
Guadalupe Island
We saw up to seven different sharks and a few large yellowtail also shouldered their way past the cages. In the distance we also spotted several green sea turtles, however the wind kicked up in the afternoon and the sharks stayed a little deeper, circling below the cages.
As the sun set, we pulled our cages while the
passengers enjoyed a few cold drinks, taking in the breathtaking
views of the sheer volcanic cliffs off the bow of the Hiorizon.
Guadalupe Island
Several pods of common dolphins rode our bow
wave as we churned through the calm waters south of the Coronado
Islands, however by dinner we saw a little more rock and roll in the
open ocean. The wind and swell increased about 70 miles offshore,
then turned towards our stern, improving the ride down to Isla
Guadalupe. The first shark, a 9 foot male, showed up as soon as we dropped the cages in the water. The visibility was excellent at 80-100 feet with a water temperature of 69 degrees. Several of our old friends, Bullet, Scar/Shredder, Bruce, and five or six unidentified male white sharks in the 9 to 11 foot range kept us company all day long.
After the sun had set and the water was a deep
indigo blue, Bruce gracefully circled the boat, showing off his
immense size and girth. After a delicious dinner of grilled pork
loin, we shut off some of the lights to stargaze on the moon deck,
watching the shooting stars streak across the milky way above us and
looking forward to another day of shark diving tomorrow...
Guadalupe Island
Our first shark showed shortly before 9am, then another, and another showed up until we had seen 7 different individuals by the early afternoon, among them our good friends Chugie, Scar/Shredder, Bruce and a number of scarred-up males in the 9-11 foot size range.
As the sun dipped behind the island we were
sad to go, but it was our time to return to San Diego.
Guadalupe Island
Our first shark showed at eight-thirty, a 9 foot male, followed by our old friend tip fin, then another 11 foot male we haven't yet identified. The winds grew throughout the day, reaching a consistent 25 knots by the afternoon. The shark diving was still good despite the windy conditions, with Bruce and Shredder/Scar joining us, and up to 2 to 3 sharks around the cages at any one time.
We re-anchored a little closer to the island
after pulling the cages for the day. We look forward to more shark
diving tomorrow!
Guadalupe Island
Within the hour of dropping our cages in the
water, our first shark showed, a relatively small 8 foot male, then
returned during the second rotation of shark divers. In the
afternoon we saw three more males, two which were unidentified, an
11 foot unscarred male, and a 12 foot male with scars on its head,
and of course our favorite showman, the 13 foot Shredder, or Scar.
He made numerous close passes, even after we pulled the cages in the
waning evening light. Over all an excellent day of shark diving.
We look forward to more tomorrow...
Guadalupe Island
As this was our final day we started sharkin early and as the cages went in the sharks were already here. Today was different though. There were four sharks under the boat yet they seemed more relaxed and were staying deeper. They would come up to check out the cages every so often but for the most part they kept a bit deep. Maybe it was due to the rise in water temperature or the drop in visibility but either way they seemed more mellow then the past two days. We still had our friends Scar and Bruce who are always around. We also had a new shark who was a bit smaller and very curious. It's good to see new animals on scene, as it shows Guadalupe to be in a healthy state. After rapping up our day we were able to enjoy one last dinner here at the island before we set off across the great Pacific Ocean. The ride was a smooth one and the conditions seemed in our favor. As always everyone had smiles from ear to ear and the stories of sharks never stopped.
Guadalupe Island is truly an enchanted place
and the memories that people have from here will not be forgotten
soon.
Guadalupe Island
As the first group of divers was suiting up we had our first shark, a small male. The first group got out and the second plunged into the clear water they shared stories with the crew about the amazing encounters they'd just had. They said there were two sharks under the boat making passes by the cages every few minutes. During the next few hours we saw four different sharks. Two sharks we have seen almost every year, Shredder a 13 foot male and Bruce 14 feet beauty. The other two were smaller males at 11 and 12 feet. After a tasty lunch we got the divers back in the water and two different sharks joined us at the cages. A beautiful 12 foot female and following her was a small 10 foot male. A green sea turtle came to visit the boat as well but wouldn't come to close maybe due to the large sharks all around. As the sun crept over the hill we lost our good lighting for the sharks so we pulled out the divers and retrieved our cages from the purple water. As the passengers ate dinner they swapped stories of their close encounters with the Great White Sharks of Isla Guadalupe.
Till the sun rises again over the Great
Pacific, Captain Spencer
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