Open waters off Tortuga and San Marcos islands
We began our day watching the incredible aerial displays of winged creatures; however, as we were sailing the open waters off San Marcos Island, the winged creatures happened to be Mobula rays instead of birds! Those smaller relatives of the huge Manta rays must be engaged in some sort of competition or parade, as they repeatedly took off into the air, jumping some 6 feet or more high. We speculated about this spectacular behavior, and many possible explanations were proposed: that they were trying to get rid of parasites, sending messages of some sort to distant members of their kind or even having just plain fun. However, my own personal favorite was the one proposed by Jason Kelley, our Expedition Leader, who said that they were just trying to dry off. Anyway, we may never know the answer, but that’s ok. How boring would the world be if we knew all the answers!
Later on, we devoted the day to explore the deep, open waters between the islands of Tortuga and San Marcos, looking for whales or dolphins. Several striped marlins, cow-nose rays and dorados were seen jumping or swimming just below the glass-calm surface, along with several more of the ubiquitous Mobulas. By late morning, a rare sighting of a family group of four dwarf sperm whales added a note of excitement to our search. Several hours later, our perseverance was rewarded with many sperm whales just off the east side of San Marcos Island. Following the true spirit of expedition travel, we stayed with the whales for a couple hours, getting some excellent views of many of these largest of the toothed whales cruising just off the ship’s bow! With so many whales around us, our Dive Master, Vicky Showler, and I couldn’t resist the urge to get some underwater video of them. Several whales, including some young calves, approached us up-close and personal, allowing the rare privilege of sharing their realm. Later, after we all enjoyed a refreshing and very fun swim off the ship’s aft, we reflected about the wonderful day that just came to an end and felt privileged for being here…
We began our day watching the incredible aerial displays of winged creatures; however, as we were sailing the open waters off San Marcos Island, the winged creatures happened to be Mobula rays instead of birds! Those smaller relatives of the huge Manta rays must be engaged in some sort of competition or parade, as they repeatedly took off into the air, jumping some 6 feet or more high. We speculated about this spectacular behavior, and many possible explanations were proposed: that they were trying to get rid of parasites, sending messages of some sort to distant members of their kind or even having just plain fun. However, my own personal favorite was the one proposed by Jason Kelley, our Expedition Leader, who said that they were just trying to dry off. Anyway, we may never know the answer, but that’s ok. How boring would the world be if we knew all the answers!
Later on, we devoted the day to explore the deep, open waters between the islands of Tortuga and San Marcos, looking for whales or dolphins. Several striped marlins, cow-nose rays and dorados were seen jumping or swimming just below the glass-calm surface, along with several more of the ubiquitous Mobulas. By late morning, a rare sighting of a family group of four dwarf sperm whales added a note of excitement to our search. Several hours later, our perseverance was rewarded with many sperm whales just off the east side of San Marcos Island. Following the true spirit of expedition travel, we stayed with the whales for a couple hours, getting some excellent views of many of these largest of the toothed whales cruising just off the ship’s bow! With so many whales around us, our Dive Master, Vicky Showler, and I couldn’t resist the urge to get some underwater video of them. Several whales, including some young calves, approached us up-close and personal, allowing the rare privilege of sharing their realm. Later, after we all enjoyed a refreshing and very fun swim off the ship’s aft, we reflected about the wonderful day that just came to an end and felt privileged for being here…
