Sep 2007
Wreck diving
We set
out a little later today and headed to a dive
wreck about an hour south
out of Loreto. We were all excited and eager for a great day. About half way
there, we spotted a couple of pods of dolphins about 100 metres distant and in
seconds, a group of about half a dozen pulled into the slipstream of our prow
and started dancing in the crest. Of course, I’m carrying on like a complete
buffoon, screaming, whistling and literally falling off the bow trying to make
contact with their backs. Got my first dolphin touch and I was completely
agiggle. These guys obviously knew our collective delight and a couple of the
perkier ones started accelerating only to catapult 10-12 feet into the air in
front of us, drenching us with dolphin backwash. It was our first encounter
with dolphins this week and we were completely gobsmacked. A half hour out of
port and my day was made already.
The wreck site was in 30 to 70 feet of water and its length was 120 feet - an
old tuna boat. The water was silty, murky and akin to soup. The wreck had
some coral and garbage growing from it but pretty much devoid of fish. I had
fun diving through the bulkheads and summoning up past echoes of life on board
however the experience wasn’t as edifying as I had imagined.
The second dive however made up for it. We went back to the shoreline along a
winding cliff face called Coyote Point. I had a little issue with equalizing
on the first dive so I scarfed another Sudafed. I’m happy to become a poster
boy for Pfizer. The phenylephrine keeps my eustachian tubes open and allows my
ears to equalize. Can’t buy them in Mexico so I’m having friends send me a
caseload when they visit. Living better through chemistry. Anyway, after a
slow descent, we started a casual and relaxed swim through what our divemaster
Rafa calls the aquarium. Yowsa. Eighty-four degree water temperature,
visibility is 60-80 feet and we’re diving though mariners’ heaven. The King Angels
are impervious to us; schools of them swim right through us, oblivious. Same
with the sergeant majors. A cornucopia of fish. I just hang weightless and try
not to slack jaw. The grey and yellow surgeon fish have three silver buttons
adjacent to their tails on both sides. They sparkle in the light but actually
hide little knifelike edges to impale their prey passing beside them. Scary
looking green moray eels with razor teeth and menacing eyes poke out of holes
in the wall daring anyone to come closer. Gorgeous lazuli blue damsel fish
filleting their way through the water. Small schools of yellowtale tuna,
grunts, wraisses accompanied by beautiful turquoise parrotfish, white spotted
puffers, redtail triggerfish, silver jacks, Mexican hogfish with signature
headbumps, all were in this continual endless parade. Green
goatfish burrowed into the ocean floor with only their head and eyes sticking
out; scorpionfish deadly to touch camouflaged into the rockbed walls,
looking very much like rock; stingrays half buried in the ocean floor and of
course beautifully green/brown spotted hawkfish, always a delight to meet.
Then there’s the invertebrates, those minute creatures inhabiting the reef that
take a seasoned and observant eye to behold. Nudibranches - shell-less snails,
blennies and little bits of life so microscopic to be nearly unnoticeable.
Stewart, Nancy and I broke from the pack, dove down to 60 feet and found some
lovely small tunnels to twist and dive through. Looking up, just dumbfounded
by the sheer wall of aquatic life busily going about its business. On the way
back, Rafa gently poked a protuberance on the reef wall and encouraged its
owner, a two foot octopus to find greener pastures.
A 59-minute dive. Breaking the surface and swimming back to the Prim’am, there
was a whole lot of whooping and hollering going on to celebrate a marvellous
day.
And as if that wasn’t enough, on the way home we were again greeted by our
dolphin pods and then dozens of mobula rays (small cousins of the manta)
leaping out of the water, flashing their silver/white bellies above the
surface of the sea.
Life doesn’t get better than this.
out of Loreto. We were all excited and eager for a great day. About half way
there, we spotted a couple of pods of dolphins about 100 metres distant and in
seconds, a group of about half a dozen pulled into the slipstream of our prow
and started dancing in the crest. Of course, I’m carrying on like a complete
buffoon, screaming, whistling and literally falling off the bow trying to make
contact with their backs. Got my first dolphin touch and I was completely
agiggle. These guys obviously knew our collective delight and a couple of the
perkier ones started accelerating only to catapult 10-12 feet into the air in
front of us, drenching us with dolphin backwash. It was our first encounter
with dolphins this week and we were completely gobsmacked. A half hour out of
port and my day was made already.
The wreck site was in 30 to 70 feet of water and its length was 120 feet - an
old tuna boat. The water was silty, murky and akin to soup. The wreck had
some coral and garbage growing from it but pretty much devoid of fish. I had
fun diving through the bulkheads and summoning up past echoes of life on board
however the experience wasn’t as edifying as I had imagined.
The second dive however made up for it. We went back to the shoreline along a
winding cliff face called Coyote Point. I had a little issue with equalizing
on the first dive so I scarfed another Sudafed. I’m happy to become a poster
boy for Pfizer. The phenylephrine keeps my eustachian tubes open and allows my
ears to equalize. Can’t buy them in Mexico so I’m having friends send me a
caseload when they visit. Living better through chemistry. Anyway, after a
slow descent, we started a casual and relaxed swim through what our divemaster
Rafa calls the aquarium. Yowsa. Eighty-four degree water temperature,
visibility is 60-80 feet and we’re diving though mariners’ heaven. The King Angels
are impervious to us; schools of them swim right through us, oblivious. Same
with the sergeant majors. A cornucopia of fish. I just hang weightless and try
not to slack jaw. The grey and yellow surgeon fish have three silver buttons
adjacent to their tails on both sides. They sparkle in the light but actually
hide little knifelike edges to impale their prey passing beside them. Scary
looking green moray eels with razor teeth and menacing eyes poke out of holes
in the wall daring anyone to come closer. Gorgeous lazuli blue damsel fish
filleting their way through the water. Small schools of yellowtale tuna,
grunts, wraisses accompanied by beautiful turquoise parrotfish, white spotted
puffers, redtail triggerfish, silver jacks, Mexican hogfish with signature
headbumps, all were in this continual endless parade. Green
goatfish burrowed into the ocean floor with only their head and eyes sticking
out; scorpionfish deadly to touch camouflaged into the rockbed walls,
looking very much like rock; stingrays half buried in the ocean floor and of
course beautifully green/brown spotted hawkfish, always a delight to meet.
Then there’s the invertebrates, those minute creatures inhabiting the reef that
take a seasoned and observant eye to behold. Nudibranches - shell-less snails,
blennies and little bits of life so microscopic to be nearly unnoticeable.
Stewart, Nancy and I broke from the pack, dove down to 60 feet and found some
lovely small tunnels to twist and dive through. Looking up, just dumbfounded
by the sheer wall of aquatic life busily going about its business. On the way
back, Rafa gently poked a protuberance on the reef wall and encouraged its
owner, a two foot octopus to find greener pastures.
A 59-minute dive. Breaking the surface and swimming back to the Prim’am, there
was a whole lot of whooping and hollering going on to celebrate a marvellous
day.
And as if that wasn’t enough, on the way home we were again greeted by our
dolphin pods and then dozens of mobula rays (small cousins of the manta)
leaping out of the water, flashing their silver/white bellies above the
surface of the sea.
Life doesn’t get better than this.
Coronado
September/20/2007 Filed in: sea lions
Went
to Coronado Island about a half hour NE of
Loreto. Beautiful day, calm
sea although the divemaster groaned when he looked at the water as he realized
we are now into a two week plankton bloom where our underwater visibility
drops to about 15 feet.
We drove until we came to a large outcropping of basalt rock, the residue of a
5,000 year old volcano. At its base, sat several sea lions and a few of their
adolescents. We anchored about 5 metres from them and dove in. They soon
followed us, and even with the poor visibility, we could see what wonderful
swimmers they are considering how awkward they are on land. They were just
checking us out and left us alone after they gave us an eyeful. The plan was
to swim through them and circle back around, submerging deeper when we reached
a crevasse. The fish weren't as plentiful here although there were Cortez
angel, sting rays, barberfish, several species of damsels and a small school of barracuda.
Reaching the abyss, we dove to 90 feet, and then began scaling a fabulous
mountain wall with thousands of urchins and sea aenomies clinging to its
chest. Many kinds of invertebrates, sea fans and orange cup coral, cucumbers,
slugs and starfish covered the wall and on one ledge, we saw a 6 inch spiral
shark's egg. Very impressive. Because of the slight current, all the coral was
in full blossom with tentacles open to feed on the plankton.
There were three of us diving today, including a construction manager from
Denver, an experienced diver who brought his digital camera. Got lots of fine
shots.
For the second dive, we turned the boat eastward into another small cove.
Rafael, our divemaster, knew of a large shelf and cliff face that we could
explore. I still have issues clearing my ears on second dives, so I used the
anchor line and descended very, very slowly, clearing every few seconds to
insure no barotrauma. We reached bottom at 20 feet and began to move. More
schools and variety here, perhaps because the visibility was improving. Mostly
angels, soapfish, damsels and small wrasse. The floor was littered with
panamic and chocolate chip stars, gorgonian and burrowing anemones whose
extended tentacles were feasting on the bloom. We now were in a stronger
current and drift dived for several minutes. The current was the trigger for
all the invertibrates to show their colours and appendages to haul in the
food. And speaking of food, saw an enormous lobster that would be a nice
dinner for two.
We started moving up another enormous cliff face, again completely covered
with the most astonishing marine life. Lifting my head, I could see stretched
before me a landscape teeming with life. Worlds within worlds. Especially in
the mountain caves. Saw a three foot yellow snapper who withdrew as soon as he
saw me. I am learning that when I see something particularly interesting, to
refrain from blowing bubbles that might frighten them off.
As we ascended to the thirty foot mark, the water began to get murky and
became a harvest; shepherded by a dozen smaller fish, was a 5 foot grouper
coming to feed, one of the larger fishes in the Sea of Cortez. We saw this guy
on three separate occasions. Swimming through a group of damsels and angels,
we came into the soft gossamer light indicating that the surface was near and
another fabulous adventure was coming to an end.
No dolphins this time, but returning home, we encountered three mobula rays
who, despite our pleading, refused to leap out of the water. It's mating time
and soon hundreds of the will be on the surface.
sea although the divemaster groaned when he looked at the water as he realized
we are now into a two week plankton bloom where our underwater visibility
drops to about 15 feet.
We drove until we came to a large outcropping of basalt rock, the residue of a
5,000 year old volcano. At its base, sat several sea lions and a few of their
adolescents. We anchored about 5 metres from them and dove in. They soon
followed us, and even with the poor visibility, we could see what wonderful
swimmers they are considering how awkward they are on land. They were just
checking us out and left us alone after they gave us an eyeful. The plan was
to swim through them and circle back around, submerging deeper when we reached
a crevasse. The fish weren't as plentiful here although there were Cortez
angel, sting rays, barberfish, several species of damsels and a small school of barracuda.
Reaching the abyss, we dove to 90 feet, and then began scaling a fabulous
mountain wall with thousands of urchins and sea aenomies clinging to its
chest. Many kinds of invertebrates, sea fans and orange cup coral, cucumbers,
slugs and starfish covered the wall and on one ledge, we saw a 6 inch spiral
shark's egg. Very impressive. Because of the slight current, all the coral was
in full blossom with tentacles open to feed on the plankton.
There were three of us diving today, including a construction manager from
Denver, an experienced diver who brought his digital camera. Got lots of fine
shots.
For the second dive, we turned the boat eastward into another small cove.
Rafael, our divemaster, knew of a large shelf and cliff face that we could
explore. I still have issues clearing my ears on second dives, so I used the
anchor line and descended very, very slowly, clearing every few seconds to
insure no barotrauma. We reached bottom at 20 feet and began to move. More
schools and variety here, perhaps because the visibility was improving. Mostly
angels, soapfish, damsels and small wrasse. The floor was littered with
panamic and chocolate chip stars, gorgonian and burrowing anemones whose
extended tentacles were feasting on the bloom. We now were in a stronger
current and drift dived for several minutes. The current was the trigger for
all the invertibrates to show their colours and appendages to haul in the
food. And speaking of food, saw an enormous lobster that would be a nice
dinner for two.
We started moving up another enormous cliff face, again completely covered
with the most astonishing marine life. Lifting my head, I could see stretched
before me a landscape teeming with life. Worlds within worlds. Especially in
the mountain caves. Saw a three foot yellow snapper who withdrew as soon as he
saw me. I am learning that when I see something particularly interesting, to
refrain from blowing bubbles that might frighten them off.
As we ascended to the thirty foot mark, the water began to get murky and
became a harvest; shepherded by a dozen smaller fish, was a 5 foot grouper
coming to feed, one of the larger fishes in the Sea of Cortez. We saw this guy
on three separate occasions. Swimming through a group of damsels and angels,
we came into the soft gossamer light indicating that the surface was near and
another fabulous adventure was coming to an end.
No dolphins this time, but returning home, we encountered three mobula rays
who, despite our pleading, refused to leap out of the water. It's mating time
and soon hundreds of the will be on the surface.