"Shark Dive" Report

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socaldiver

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Location
Maui
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Well, it has come and gone. One of my "dream dives" took place today, and it was fantastic.

We boarded the Aquatica dive boat at 10 PM last night (didn't want to get up at 4 this morning to make the drive) and "claimed" our bunk. We were awakened at 6 this morning for roll call and to make final preparations to get underway. We took off from San Pedro at 6:30 and headed for Avalon Banks, a pinnacle that is about 6 miles off the coast of Catalina. Seas were unusually calm which made for a nice ride.

The ocean floor is about 3500 fsw and the pinnacles at Avalon Banks rise up to about 1500 fsw. We arrived at the Banks around 10 this morning and immediately started chumming. The boat moved upcurrent. After crawing upcurrent while chumming for about 1 1/2 hours, the engines were shut down and we started drifting back with the current. At 12:02 (knew the time because we had a pool for when the first shark would be spotted) a 3 ft blue shark made it's appearance. The boat crew put the cage in the water and set it up for us to jump in and snorkel while watching the shark. The cage is 4 ft high by 8 ft wide by 20 ft wide. It accomodates 7 snorkelers comfortably. there were 17 divers and 8 crew on board the boat so we had to take turns going in the cage.

Within a half an hour of the arrival of the first shark, 3 more blues appeared. The smallest was about 1 1/2 ft and the largest was 4 ft. Geez, these are beautiful creatures to watch swimming so effortlessly. I was in the cage for about 1/2 hour shooting some pics thru the cage wires when we were told it was safe to go in the open water.

There were 3 safety divers so they could only put 3 of us in the water at one time. My chivalry (hehe) came to the front and so I let the women and younger "men" go first. Each diver got to go in for 15 minutes with the safety diver, you jumped in with no air in your BC so that you would not linger on the surface. There were 4 drop lines in the water to hang onto because of the current. You dropped down to 15 fsw and hung on while the sharks swam around you. After about 4 cycles of divers going in and out (my turn was in about 1/2 hour) the safety divers came shooting to the surface with their other diver yelling to get out of the water quick. A 6 ft Mako decided to appear and it was VERY aggressive. It came right up to the swim step just as the last safety diver was exiting the water, he just missed getting a fin. WHAT A RUSH!! The Mako stayed around for 5 maybe 10 minutes just waiting for someone to go in the water. It then swam over by the cage, breeched and was gone. If you batted an eye during that time you missed it. I have never seen anything that could move that quick in water.

Anyway, after waiting about another half hour to assure the Mako wasn't lurking the safety divers went back in gave the all clear and the final 5 divers (yea, my turn) got to go in. I did a backwards giant stride off the swim step and dropped real quick to the safety stop, armed the camera and waited, and waited and waited. Finally after what seemed to be a lifetime, but actually was about 3 minutes a solitary 4 ft blue came back under the boat and started swimming around us. I shot off about 6 or 7 pics, my 15 minutes of ecstasy was over, I surfaced and joined the other divers in some exhilarating shark diving conversation. BTW, at 15 fsw the water temp was 68.

As I side note to this trip, while we were drifting a marlin breeched the water maybe a hundreds yards from the boat, and I saw the strangest jellyfish I have ever seen. They reminded me of the creatures in the movie "The Abyss".

Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. I will have the pics on Monday and hopefully they turned out ok.

 
Ah the memories! I always love doing those dives... I'll have to clear my calendar next time... oh and, my extra curricular activity we talked about earlier payed off quite well! :wink: Who ever said three was a crowd?!? LOL!
 
Great dive report. I love hearing about shark dives. Can't wait to see the PICS!
:sunny:
 
Socaldiver,

I think you write just plain damn good reports! You must have received excellent grades in English comp. And if you did not, please do not burst my bubble!

A 6' mako? And it nearly got someone's dive fin? Tell me again about this safety cage... Did you get a picture? I would give up some precious parts of my anatomy to have a photo of a mako that I took.

Well, 68 deg is sounding more inviting everytime I read one of your reports. Okay, I will confess: sometime this Fall I am investing in a 5mm wet suit. That plus my 3mm vest and I think I can handle the temp. So, lets keep the communication lines open and try to schedule something down the road. It may have to wait until next Spring--hope we are still "talking" by then! So, behave yourself!

And, I still want to try to get together in October in Monterey. Is Kath coming up, too? Let me know.

Great report, Socal, keep 'em coming!


Joewr (the still envious)
 
Hey all,

There we were, snorkeling just off of the Crystal River in the Gulf of Mexico. All of a sudden, my sister yells “HELP! There’s a hammerhead attacking me!!!”

I, in my youthful haste (and stupidity) fin over to her in earnest, where I see the darnedest thing... an 18" bonnet head attacking her fins! She was just kicking normally and it would lunge at the fin and start shaking its head back and forth to kill it. My sister would finally shake it off, only to have it move in for the "kill" once more. Too funny! BTW, what was the color of the fin??? It was yum-yum yellow. Nope, she won't dive with those fins any more! And she still thinks she was attacked by a ferocious hammerhead. :tease:
 
Too funny Pete! Had a good laugh at that one! But nothing in the ocean is more feared than the ferocious Garibaldi :D



 
Mario,

I expect Doc to deviate--he is known to be one--but an official of the Board needs to keep things in line!

Now,where was I? Oh, yeah, Socaldiver, I told Barbara about your dives and showed her this thread; guess what? She is ready to get a 5mm wet suit--to go along with her 2.5mm vest--neo gloves and hood and try the Socal scene! I think it will have to wait until next Spring, but it looks like we are on!

So, let's try to be civil to each other for the next several months! You have worked a miracle--St. Socaldiver--sounds pretty good.

Joewr
 
Netdoc, that's a riot about your sis.

Ah, the dreaded Garibaldi. Mario are they part of the "triggerfish" family? If not they should be. They are so territorial, I know a couple of times shooting shots of the juveniles big daddy/mommy came out of nowhere to observe. And to think most of the time they pose for their pics. :D

Joewr, the cage was not actually a safety cage because it was open on the top. The top of the cage was at water level and was only 4 feet deep, 8 feet wide by 20 feet long. I think I took a pic of it so you will be able to see what I am talking about. When the Mako showed up the cage had to be evacuated also because he would have been able to swim into it. I did get a pic of the Mako because I was by the swim step when he was lurking there. the divers were handing their fins up to me and I had my camera in one hand trying to shoot pics.


Keep it civil? Moi? All the time :egrin: Thank you for the kind words and BTW I did take English Composition in college. Glad to hear we might be able to do the spring theme, and yes if I do make it north in October, Kath will be there with me. I will email you later about details.

And last but by no means least, Thank You Natasha for the kind words.

 
Ark! this coming from Joewr the :jester: your killin me man, your killin me! haha




 
Socal,

Thanks for the report -- awesome! Any chance we can get a look at the pics on-line?

I was hoping to get out on a shark dive charter sometime this summer/fall here in New England, but looks like I won't have the time. Your report makes me promise myself I'll make it happen next year.

Thanks again!
 

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