divEr 40
workshop. Using our photographs of
their undersides, we looked to see if the
rays had been spotted here before,
referencing books from the Pacific Manta
Research Group.
A 30-year-old male chevron manta
called Marty was identified for the fourth
time at San Benedicto. We wondered how
many thousands of miles he had travelled
since his first sighting there in 2004.O
UR 80-MILE JOURNEYto Roca
Partida began after the day’s final
dive. Gazing out the next morning we saw
a guano-covered rock protruding from the
sea, all that remains of the centre of a
volcano plug.
The dive-site would be a sheer wall with
no bottom, unlike the others we had seen.
I was thrilled to see how the topography of
this tiny rock would increase in size under
water, like a volcanic version of an iceberg!
We descended on the more sheltered
east side and moved between the north
and south corners, where most of the
marine life would be hanging out.
Within seconds we heard and were soon
in the excited presence of dolphins. A pod
of bottlenoses frantically danced about us,
and then suddenly hung vertically in the
water column, slowly sinking.
Why they do this is unknown, though it
could be a sign of submission. They go
into a trance, similar to tonic
immobilisation in a shark.
My fellow-divers soon learnt their
lesson trying to photograph this
phenomenon, as the beeps of unhappy
computers snapped them out of their
descents! The pod even forced interactions
on some of the divers by nudging close to
them, as if wanting to play.
Other dives during the day gifted us
with a big Galapagos shark, silvertips,
yellowfin tuna, blacktip oceanics and up to
40 whitetip reef sharks piled up on ledges.
These were very difficult to photograph in
the strong surge near the wall.
An unexpected turn in the weatherTop: Silvertip sharks.Above: A school of trevally.Left: A playful bottlenose
dolphin.As I watched a chevron manta approach
me, I put my eye to the viewfinder of my
camera to get the money shot.
My fisheye lens was giving a misleading
orientation, however. As the pectoral fin
came down on my head, I realised that I
should have ducked somewhat earlier. The
power in those wings is immense!
Shallowing up, being careful to stay
away from the surge at the top of the dive-
site, my group were beaming. There were
also a few tears, the result of the spiritual
interaction experienced on this dive.
There was much sharing of stories over
second breakfast and, as if in an effort to
top the marine-life thrill of the day, a
mother humpback whale and her calf
passed close to the island as we watched in
awe from the top deck.
The day proceeded with a few more
mantastic moments, and the talk
continued into the evening with an IDcaused us to leave after the third dive and
head for Socorro Island. A red-billed
tropic bird saw us off as we raised anchor
for a bumpy 70-mile overnight journey.
Socorro is the greenest island in the
archipelago. Its last volcanic activity was
under water, in 1993. A large Mexican
naval base there since 1957 enforces the
National Park protected status, and our
vessel was boarded to check that we were
all legitimate passengers.
This is a mandatory check for all
liveaboard operators.
Socorro has five dive-sites but we were
able to dive only on one side because of
bad weather. Briefed for Punta Tosca, the
first three groups boarded the skiffs over
to the “fingers” of lava that stretch out
from the island into the sea.
You can make “jumps” between the
outer, middle and inner fingers if you time
the surge correctly.
Our guide Martyn noticed a lot of silky
sharks at the back of the boat, probably
the result of the number of flying fish that