Seas: 4 - 6 ft Visibility: 50 ft Water Temp: 76°F Current: Mild South
The enthusiasm and drive of new divers, especially the young ones, brings with it a renewal of the magic of our watery planet. Some of the critters we take for granted from our daily underwater observations suddenly take on a new persona when viewed through the eyes of someone seeing them for the first time. Trumpet fish, angel fish, even porcupine fish are always glimpsed with fascination through the eyes of new divers and it is this enthusiasm that reminds the rest of us who do this day in and day out of our first underwater adventures.
On today’s dive we had the pleasure of having a gung-ho group of new young divers with such an enthusiasm for the underwater world. Going through their skills like professionals, they were soon cruising above the reef watching all the animals in this new and mysterious world with great fascination. Mother ocean was quick to make their dives even more memorable by giving them the type of underwater encounters they are likely to remember forever.
A large male Loggerhead turtle was the first to brighten up the eyes of all who watched it cruise nearby. But their last encounter of their first dive was to be the hit of the day. At first glance they all kept a weary distance and their eyes bulged – a shark was in plain sight! Already mother ocean was beginning to educate them of the true nature of sharks. Instead of causing them great fear and terror, the lonely nurse shark continued napping under a ledge until the noise of the regulators breathing a little extra heavy was too much to bear and he swam away.
Faring through rough seas the group was determined to get their scuba diving certification and make the best of the day and that is exactly what they did. Congratulations to all the new divers from Diving Locker Ski Chalet in Georgia. May all your underwater adventures be filled with new discoveries. Don’t forget to always share your observations and enthusiasm with others for you are now embassadors to this amazing watery world.
*NOTE: Printable images are NOT included with the DVD.
Oceanic White Tip Shark Trip
Saturday, 16th of May 2009 - Blog written by Jim Abernethy
This week we were delighted to see over 50% of our guests returning once again for another shark expedition. Our guests came from all over the world. From as far away as Singapore, Germany, England, Canada and the US everyone was here because they love sharks. Several of the guests have been here for more than four sharks trips with us.
We departed Palm Beach, Florida and started our long journey to see the Oceanic White Tip Shark. This species which was once the most prolific shark in the sea is now one of the most endangered. At the planets present rate of eradication it will not be long before we no longer have them around. I hope this day never arrives but the 100 million sharks that are being removed for the sake of shark fin soup I am sure is having it’s toll on this poor creature.
After a stormy rough crossing we finally arrived at our first stop to see the beautiful family of pigs that lives at what we call “Pig Island”. As soon as they saw us three of them swam out into the water to great us. The spotted ones I had seen as babies just a year ago were now almost as big as there mother. All of them seemed to be doing very well. With an overcast sky we enjoyed there company while we snorkeled with these enjoyable creatures. Many of them are now very proficient swimmers.
After spending three hours at Pig Beach we moved on to an island cave with six different swim openings to the sea. The next morning we started back on our mission to find the Oceanic White Tip Shark. The first dive produced duskies, silkies, lemons and Caribbean reef sharks but no Oceanic White Tips. The second spot we finally had one. This was the perfect way to start as I knew this would be the last time we only had one. This shark also had a large hook on it’s left side that looked like we could remove it. On my second attempt I was able to remove the hook while the shark swam by me. Now we had the great karma that we needed to be successful. In addition some of the guests also saw a tiger shark. We spent the rest of the day filling are compact flash cards with images of these species. The totals for the day were 6 duskies, 3 silkies, 1 lemon 1 oceanic white tip and one tiger shark. Everyone did exceptionally well despite the rough seas.
Early the next morning our small protected anchorage had spotted dolphins, spotted eagle rays and cow nosed rays swimming around us. Within one hour of deploying the bait we started diving with Oceanic White Tips, duskies, silkies, lemons and one more tiger. The weather seemed to be getting nicer by the day and well deserved after such a rough crossing. The totals for the day were 5 oceanic white tips, 2 silkies, 6 duskies, 1 lemon shark and 1 tiger shark. Everyone crashed early after a full day of diving.
This morning we experienced a very strong current. Although we started with 5 different oceanic white tips after we drifted into shallow water we lost all but two. One of the ones we lost had lots of pilot fish with it that we all wanted images of. We moved the bait back to deep water without success with the pilot fish.
Our last day here and we started in the water for our first dive with nine different oceanic white tips, including one with four pilot fish. A tiger came in for a while as well. It was spectacular! Two of them we had seen two years earlier. At the end of the day we headed back to pig island.
We started the day off first with pigs and then with iguanas. Everyone really enjoys the pigs. The following day we swam with spotted dolphins for a very short encounter. We departed home due to a storm that was following us. The trip was spectacular, mostly because of all of the extremely nice guests on board.
*NOTE: Printable images are NOT included with this slideshow.
Turtle mating season
Monday, 11th of May 2009 - Blog written by Laz
Dive Conditions:
Seas: 2 - 4 ft Visibility: 45 ft Water Temp: 76°F Current: Mild North
It’s sea turtle mating season again and while the leatherbacks have been out nesting in record numbers the female loggerhead sea turtles are off to a grouchy start. On both dives today at Flower Gardens and Breaker’s reef we came across female loggerhead sea turtles that wanted nothing to do with a willing male partner. C’est la vie!
Subscribe via RSS
