Friday, 27th of May 2011 - Blog written by Jim Abernethy
This trip we were doing a film with Robert Cantrell and Julia Goswick. Helping with the film and also staring in it were George Schellenger and his brother Jon Schellenger, Maris Kazmers, and Joe Romeiro. Jim also decided to bring along his flying boat for some aerial shots. We made the normal stops at Pig Island and Thunderball Cave before getting to the sharks. The sharks were a little harder to round up this trip but once we got them it was easier to keep them. The week went great with about 7 Oceanics staying around the boat. The real excitement came on 4th day of the trip. After careful planning we figured out a way to try an Oceanic night dive. This, if we are able to do it, would be the first ever Oceanic Whitetip Night Dive ever conducted outside of a cage. Anticipation was building as it grew dark, and the entire group on the boat was preparing for one of the most exciting dives of their lives. As we slipped into the water that night we knew we were making history. Hopefully the film will be out soon so we can share the amazing encounter we had with the rest of the world. It was so much fun we decided to go again the next night. Unfortunately the day after we had to head home. We made a quick stop outside of Grand Bahama Island to do some snorkeling and diving. The crew was able to pull up some monster Lionfish, which made a great dinner. Too bad we are done with Oceanic for the year. It went by very quickly.
May 5-13 2011 – Shark Expedition
Thursday, 5th of May 2011 - Blog written by Jim Abernethy
This year’s first Oceanic Whitetip Expedition proved to be a great one. It’s a long journey to get to the Oceanic’s, so we try to break up the time on the boat and give the guests and crew a chance to get off the boat. We decided to stop at Pig Island and hang out for a few hours. Once anchored the pigs started swimming out to the boat looking for any handouts we may have brought. Luckily we were prepared with apples and peanut butter. We spent the morning with pigs chasing us across the beach before heading out for a quick, relaxing dive at Thunderball Cave. The next day we arrived. We started by pulling in a little fish to feed the guests. In no time we had Oceanics collecting around the boat. By the end of our trip we had encountered as many as 14 Oceanics. We also had a few rare encounters with some beautiful Marlin. On the way back home we had to stop off at Pig Island for one more morning of pigs. Many hours later we were back in the US, but ready to head back out as soon as possible.
Dives on May 3, 2011
Tuesday, 3rd of May 2011 - Blog written by Nikole
What a great day…the sun was out and we had lots of fun people on the boat. The seas were 2-3ft with a strong North bound current. It was difficult to stay on the site because of the current but it turned out to be rather fun. The water temp was 71 degrees and the vis was around 20ft, so not the best diving conditions BUT the topside action was AMAZING! We dove the Corridor Wreck trek for the first dive. We got down there and saw 4 Goliath Groupers and 2 loggerhead turtles. After the dives we surfaced and from the boat we saw a beautiful golden colored hammerhead. We followed it and a second hammerhead shark showed up. The second shark was black as night, and the two sharks swam to eachother and did circles, looked like ting & tang. So neat, but they dove before a photo could be taken. The second sight we dove was the back-side of Breaker’s reef. Again, the current was pushing but we saw lots of neat creatures: more turtles, angelfish, and spadefish. Thanks for the dives!
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