of San Diego to fulfill a long held desire – since reading
Jacques-Yves Cousteau’s “The
The Main Event:
I don’t want to bury the lead, so I’ll get right to our guests of
honor. The
Great White Sharks are impressive, majestic, and beautiful.
They move by the twin cages, quite closely, at a stately pace, and look
at the folks in the cage with large deep blue eyes; and, they appear
utterly calm and in command. They make passes at the two bait carcasses
off the stern, sometimes lazily and on occasion quite quickly. We were
fortunate enough to witness a breach on one occasion – a male, who had
previously made half-hearted passes at the bait, disappeared, the
emerged from deep below the boat, under the cages, at speed, and hit the
bait vertically from below, taking himself halfway out of the water –
to the astonishment, screams and overwhelming joy of everyone aboard.
The visibility, typically, is very good at
Isla Guadalupe, so the sun
penetrates deep into the water and the boat casts a long shadow into the
depths. Often our first sightings each time into the cage(s) were of
the dark silhouette emerging from the shadow cast by the boat, coming up
slowly from below and then circling the cages, bait and boat for some
time before silently disappearing into the shadows again. Though each of
us kept eyes peeled in all directions, it was amazing how frequently we
were taken by surprise by a shark suddenly appearing. On deck, between
dives, the crew is very experienced and keen eyed; and, they will call
out “
White Shark” as they approach, usually well before any guests see
them. From above or below it is mesmerizing, and difficult to turn away.
Isla Guadalupe:
There are a few places worldwide to see
Great White Sharks with
predictability. Both South Africa and the Farallon Islands offer this
opportunity; but, both have limited underwater visibility and
challenging water temperatures.
Isla Guadalupe has better water clarity,
100 foot visibility, and weather, and very few (we saw only three
other) boats, some distance away. Unlike other locations,
Isla Guadalupe
will not force you to deal with cold and murky water, crowded boats and
cages, quick “in and out” quick thrill experiences, etc. You will have
days on the dive site, in relatively warm and very clear water, and good
weather.
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| #153 he needs a name! You can name him by clicking here |
Isla Guadalupe is a designated
Bio Sphere, a marine
sanctuary. It sits about 200 miles southwest of San Diego. It is made up
of volcanic remnants and has a stark beauty, with tall, steep cliffs
diving hundreds of feet down to sea. There are large populations of, and
rookeries for, elephant seals, sea lions – all of which you are very
likely to see, with approaches to boat on occasion.
Timing:
Typically, though as Martin notes there are no hard and fast rules with
White Sharks, they tell us the males will show up in earlier months –
e.g., July, August, and September – and in greater numbers. And the
typically October and November are when they have female sightings – the
females being fewer but much larger than the males. Also, typically,
the wetter weather comes later in the year, with the Pacific hurricane /
wet season; but, this too is not always the case.
The Drive Out:
It is a long trip out to, and back from
Isla Guadalupe from / to San
Diego. It was some eight hours from San Diego to Ensenada Mexico, where
we docked to have passports checked, and then a long 18 +/- hours to
Isla Guadalupe. Note that the return trip is the same itinerary, in
reverse, with a stop in Ensenada before entering U.S. waters. Along the
way out to
Guadalupe, a large pod of dolphins escorted us. The sea can
often be a bit rough to quite rough, with good swells causing a fair bit
of roll onboard. Owing to timing, much of the initial leg is spent
hanging out in main cabin getting to know fellow divers, with folks
eventually heading to their beds – sleep and good anti motion sickness
remedies work well. Most folks used some combination of ear patch and
oral medication. It’s a long drive, so be smart and just bring your
meds.
The Boat:
You won’t “Need bigger boat”
The MV Horizon the Horizon is roughly 80 feet long with 8 state rooms
and several bunks. There are two restrooms and showers that are shared
by all. The accommodations (two persons to a room with curtain for
privacy and in bunks) are not lux, but they are nice, and you won’t care
anyway
The Horizon is used only as diving vessel; and that's all season long.
They determine who bunks together once everyone arrives in San Diego,
based on number of couples, individual travelers, etc. The sleeping
quarters are below,, and the main cabin contains the galley and a series
of booths along each side used for dining and spending time together
with travelers in route or between dives. Net / net, this is a large and
comfortable boat.
The Cages:
There are two, kept on deck
astern for the trip and each night when diving is completed. For each
day's diving, each is suspended off, but affixed to, the stern at the
surface (that is, they do not sink below) – so you simply climb down a
ladder and into the cage (easy); and each easily holds four divers. One
cage is aft port, one aft starboard. You will alternate each dive, so
that everyone has plenty of time in each cage.
The Dives:
The divers are assigned to two teams. Each team dives for an hour, and
then rests and re-hydrates for an hour while the alternate team dives.
Each team has four people in each cage, and the team alternates cages
each time, so everyone gets to try both cages and gets plenty of dive
time and rest. There were a couple days of early open diving as well –
starting just after sunrise – during which anyone who preferred could
climb into either cage.
The crew will size you for suits,
equipment, weights, and Martin himself oriented each of us to breathing
via air hose and made sure we comfortable before we stepped fully down
into the cage.
Safety is primary and at no point was anything but
utterly assured all was well and well in control. No divers are ever
permitted out of the cages – for the sake of the
sharks, the marine
preserve, as well as the divers. You are completely safe at all times.
There were folks of all ages, bith genders, and widely varying
experience levels. Past trips have included folks in their 60’s and
70’s, and quite young divers as well. The always amazing Cindy at
Shark Diver can advise on particulars.
Breathing with the hookah system
is easy – no metal tanks to strap on, simply a long hose that goes from
on deck tank system to each diver’s regulator (mouthpiece through which
you breathe). So, if you’ve ever snorkeled and used a mask, you’ll be
just fine. The cages are beyond sturdy, offer complete visibility
around, above and below, and are plenty large enough for each set of
divers.
The Purpose:
In addition to the opportunity
provided to guests to see these amazing creatures, each shark observed
is photographed (Martin, Nicole and the divers get to participate in
this) and compared to a database of previously observed sharks. New
sharks are named and tracked in the database each successive year. This
is a joint effort between the
Marine Conservation Science Institute (MCSI) and
Shark Diver.
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| #172 Freya a shark that was newly named this season. |
Newly identified sharks on a particular
dive are named by the people on the dive in a bidding process (proceeds
of which go to the
MCSI and shark research effort). On a side note, I
was fortunate enough from a 2014 dive with
Shark Diver to name one –
Hooper (after the Richard Dreyfuss oceanographer character in Jaws) –
great fun and a great way to support the cause.
 |
| # 159 Hooper |
Isla Guadalupe is
home to a marine preserve and a research station manned by a researcher
named Mauricio – who will visit the Horizon and give an excellent
presentation with Martin on Great White Sharks and the Isla Guadalupe
Bio Sphere.
The
Shark Diver Team:
Martin Graf, the CEO and
dive leader, teacher, host is a deeply experienced and great guy. He is
hands on, overseeing everything on the dives. He also gives talks and a
presentation to the divers on
Isla Guadalupe,
Great White Sharks, and
many experiences with both. If Nicole Nasby Lucas (again, researcher
from
MCSI) is leading Science Expedition, she, too, will give a fine
presentation, talk. Both Martin and Nicole worked each evening on
identified sharks seen from photographs taken during the day. All the
reservations, logistics, arrangements, and care taking of the divers
before and after is led by the excellent and omnipresent Cindy Michaels,
their Director of Communications – Cindy was a rock star and took care
of every question and need leading up to the trip.
The Horizon Crew:
In a word, excellent. Experienced captain, crew – professional, easy
going, genuinely friendly, and they take care of anything you might
need. I cannot say enough good things about the crew of the Horizon.
The Food:
As noted elsewhere, the food is outstanding. The quality and quantity
of the meals is positively surprising and uniformly excellent. There is
also beer and wine aboard. There are large and delicious breakfasts
every morning cooked to order, excellent lunches (including Sashimi),
and absolutely fantastic dinners, including prime rib near end of stay.
The galley will account for you preferences and restrictions with no
problem.
Thank you David Moore! We appreciate you taking the time to share your experience with us and our future divers. We are glad you enjoyed your expedition and hope to see you again on another shark trip.
Cheers,
Martin Graf
CEO Shark Diver
.
As a global leader in commercial shark diving and conservation initiatives Shark Diver has spent the past decade engaged for sharks around the world. Our blog highlights all aspects of both of these dynamic and shifting worlds. You can reach us directly at staff@sharkdiver.com.
