Welcome aboard the Rocio del Mar! This week we had Sid's group, which included: Charlie, Lew, and Rich from Phoenix, and Rommell and Osmar from Brazil. Additionally, Bill and Ruth came back for a second trip from Tucson. Also joining us were Rob, Naomi, Jim and Mary from Illinois, Dave from Missouri, and last but not least Kelly and Nancy from Denver.
The old saying "I laughed till I cried" was how I describe Kelly and Nancy. Funny, funny ladies. This week was a blast!
When we left Puerto Peñasco we had the most beautiful full moon. It was spectacular. We woke in Refugio Bay at Angel Island the next morning. The visibility was a vast improvement from the week before and the check out dive was great. We saw turtles, guitarfish, and a giant jaw fish. It seems like jaw fish are everywhere this season.
Because of the full moon, we had strong currents, which made for great drift diving. The current also brought in cooler water. Temperatures ranged from a warm 86 to a chilly 72. There were lots of thermoclines. Osmar wore nothing but swimming shorts and Dave was wearing a dry suit. It's so funny watching the video because there is no way of guessing water temperature by looking at these two. The rest of us are somewhere in between.
On the surface we saw pods of dolphins whose numbers had to be in the hundreds. On our way from San Pedro Martir to Animas, we ran into a large pod of pilot whales. The pilot whales looked like they were feeding and were all scattered about. Lolo was circling them at a distance with the big boat. All of the sudden, a larger pilot whale slapped his tail against the water hard twice. After that, the rest of the whales gathered and started to ride the wake of the boat. I had no idea what that was about, but it was very interesting to see. If anyone is familiar with pilot whale behavior, please share.
We also had the opportunity to get in the water with the sperm whales. The only person who was able to get video was Rommell.
Sea lion pups are getting bigger and we are getting much more participation from the moms. The bulls still keep a watchful eye just in case we get to rowdy.
We found several huge sea horses. At "El Lavadero", we found two together. They were about 10" big. One of the sea horses swam across from one sea fan to another. That was really neat to witness.
On Thursday we caught the tail end of a storm and tucked in a calm cove where we had a very exciting exploration dive. We were going to vote on a name for the dive site. At the end, everyone had different ideas and I don't think we agreed
on anything. If you guys remember the ideas we came up with, please post.
It was an incredible week with great memories and great new friends.
We miss you and hope to see you back soon.
The crew of Rocio Del Mar
Lolo, Dora, Rey, Ivan, Bob, Aurelio, Pedro, Tito, Jorge and Everardo
We found several huge sea horses. At "El Lavadero", we found two together. They were about 10" big. One of the sea horses swam across from one sea fan to another. That was really neat to witness.
On Thursday we caught the tail end of a storm and tucked in a calm cove where we had a very exciting exploration dive. We were going to vote on a name for the dive site. At the end, everyone had different ideas and I don't think we agreed
on anything. If you guys remember the ideas we came up with, please post.
It was an incredible week with great memories and great new friends.
We miss you and hope to see you back soon.
The crew of Rocio Del Mar
Lolo, Dora, Rey, Ivan, Bob, Aurelio, Pedro, Tito, Jorge and Everardo
