July 24, 2010

Wolf Island dive 1: Landslide Wake up bell at 6:30am. Breakfast is cereal, mixed fruit, eggs cooked to order and a handful of other breakfast items. In the water at 8am. 90 feet. 42 minutes 23* C or about 73*F. I was fine in my 7mm. (Note to non-divers: That is NOT 42 minutes spent at 90 feet. That is 42 minutes dive time with a max depth of 90 feet.) When they say GO! You GO! Got a little tangled up with the guy next to me, but we managed. Ride the current. Ride the surge. Some corals. Mostly cup corals and some type of plate coral. One mobula ray, one hawksbill. Good sized squardon of Eagle Rays. Sharks were staying around 110 feet. Large school of hammer and galapagos reef sharks. Nothing close enough to take pictures of. Trumpet fish everywhere. Very common here. Lots of Moorish Idol too. Getting back on panga in 4-5 foot waves was a trick. I don't think anyone earned points for being graceful. Hot chocolate and a warm towel back at the boat. This is REAL hot chocolate too. Not the packaged stuff. Wolf Island 2: Shark Bay. 73 feet 51 minutes 73*F Huge schools totalling more than 100 hammer heads and galapagos reef sharks. I had an easier time with the current and surge on this dive. 3 hawksbills including one eating on the reef. This was a sit, watch, and wait dive. I did get chilled. I'm one of the only ones not in a hood on these dives. Most everyone is in at least a 7mm wet suit. No one is dry. Surface intervals are about 1.5 hours and everyone is diving 32% nitrox. Lunch Fish ceviche to start. Rice and a chickpea something or other, Grilled chicken K-bobs flank steak k-bob, canned baby corn and asperagus. Fresh tomato and avocado. Lemon pie dessert. Wolf Island 3 and 4: Back at landslide by popular vote. Steady progression of hammerheads and galapagos reef sharks and eagle rays. Didn't get close enough to take pictures. The rays really aren't very shy as long as no one chases them. I left my camera on the boat intentionally for #4 due it it getting dark. We were in the shadow of the island. Could have taken some up-close ray pictures and did get close enough to a couple sharks. The couple from Germany saw dolphins and shot some video. There were also a pair of sea lions n the flat water bay in the lee of the island. We did see turtles on every dive. Vis was 50 feet or so on each dive.