Good week in Utila

[Sloeber]

Provided some quality diving to my guests this week. On Tuesday we saw a large pod of feeding dolphins tearing into squid and needlefish. On Wedneday we swam with 2 whalesharks, one of about 15 feet and the other maybe 18 feet. Later that day I had them onto a herd of seahorses numbering at 5 including yellow, green, black, and white plus a fuzzy/horny variety. Thursday was a Hammerhead shark in the morning and a Caribbean reef shark on the second dive. Friday was another whaleshark, this one longer than our 36 foot boat. It wasn't in a boil, but rather simply basking in the sun on the surface with fins breaking the surface. Amazing stuff. Finished their last dive on Utila with more seahorses plus a huge pipefish. Of course all the usual eagle rays, turtles, etc. Have some video and photos of the dolphins, whaleshark, and seahorse on my blog at www.saltyendeavors.com Hopefully the guestsd email me more photos to add to my blog.

 

[RichKirby]

That's amazing! If I see one hammerhead or whale shark, I would consider the week a huge success.

 

[okidoki]

Hammerhead???? reef shark??? in Utila waters wow it is only the second time I hear of a Hammerhead in Utila the first sighting was 2001 by Steve from Deep Blue. which dive sites did you see the sharks and are they regular sightings?

 

[Doc]

I believe it's more an issue of getting out there and taking every opportunity to dive. Utila is a great dive location, but not so much if you're in a hammock drinking a Salva Vida

On dive trips- use up all the compressed air that you can... get out and dive! Keep up with "Sloeber"

Then, the sightings tend to become more regular.

Cartoon depiction of a man carving a symbol on the side of his boat to mark where his sword dropped into the river. It comes from the Chinese phrase 刻舟求剑 (kè zhōu qiú jiàn).

 

[okidoki]

Thanks Roatan man but I did about 2000 dives on Utila night and day that's why I am asking because it is great news to hear sharks are finally spotted. I personally sighed a Silky after snorkeling with a whale shark and when I went fishing with Captain Swin when he caught a juvenile black tip which we released. both where far away from reefs or shore.

 

[Sloeber]

Sharks are becoming more regular. This wasn't the first hammerhead sighting in the past month. We were seeing a tiger shark out at black hills, but it was finned by a local after about 10 days of regular sightings. Because of this, I'm not going to share exactly where our sightings are occuring. Since you mentioned Swin, no personal experience myself of this happening, but the DM that worked with Swin told me to not discuss large fish in front of Swin because he will tell his fishing friends where/what we are seeing and then his friends will go fish for them.

 

[okidoki]

Hi Sloeber, are you aware that the Honduran law now protects all sharks since June 2011 and sharks fining is prohibited by law. I remember seeing a 3m Tiger shark in the keys tied to a dory back in 2002. good to know then that sharks are a more regular sight but a shame that some local continue to stay ignorant regarding the importance of sharks and not realizing how much tourism sharks can bring.
I am sad to hear this about Swin and I hope it is not true.

Read this link:
http://therandomfact.com/shark-fins-burned-in-honduras/2211223/

 

[laurenceh]

sadly its not just the locals, a gringo neighbor of mine killed four young bull sharks and twenty plus big snapper - all on the last day of his stay last year. what a complete waste, he didn't even have time to eat any of them. as he was having his photo taken with them laid out around him on the beach i explained to him that sharks are now protected by law and his come back was "you have to kill them because they get tangled up in the fishing gear". one of the locals who was with him later told me that they used a fish finder and deliberately targeted the sharks "for sport".

 

[okidoki]

Hi guys the best thing you can do about this incident is to name and shame and educate the community about the impact people need to know what is going on good or bad. Could you please send this pic to me so I can have it flaged with immigration and the fisheries department.

 

[Cudabait]

Hi guys the best thing you can do about this incident is to name and shame and educate the community about the impact people need to know what is going on good or bad. Could you please send this pic to me so I can have it flaged with immigration and the fisheries department.

Jeff, what the h3ll you been smokin'? Been a while since you've been on the island. Things have changed. The locals have always used the divers as unwitting fish locators. I'm not inclined to believe the rumor about Swin either. I have seen him in violent arguments with other boat captains over matters that he did not think were honorable. By the way, I don't know how long you can hold your breath these days, but seriously doubt it is long enough to really expect personal identification and photos........LOL. They probable know who is nailing the fish anyway. I hope you are well.